Open Access, Peer-reviewed
pISSN 2288-0402
eISSN 2288-0410
    Allergy Asthma Respir Dis. 2015 Jul;3(4):294-296. Korean.
    Published online Jul 28, 2015.
    https://doi.org/10.4168/aard.2015.3.4.294
    © 2015 The Korean Academy of Pediatric Allergy and Respiratory Disease; The Korean Academy of Asthma, Allergy and Clinical Immunology
    Case Report

    Successful rapid desensitization for cetuximab-induced anaphylaxis

    Ha Kyeong Won,1,2 Sung Do Moon,1,2 Ji Su Shim,1,2 Soo Jie Chung,1,2 Gun Woo Kim,1,2 Su Jeong Kim,2,3 Han Ki Park,1,2,4 and Hye Ryun Kang1,2,4
      • 1Department of Internal Medicine, Seoul National University Medical Research Center, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
      • 2Institute of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, Seoul National University Medical Research Center, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
      • 3Department of Internal Medicine, Kyungpook National University College of Medicine, Daegu, Korea.
      • 4Regional Pharmacovigilance Center, Seoul National University Hospital, Seoul, Korea.
    • Correspondence to: Hye Ryun Kang. Division of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, Department of Internal Medicine, Seoul National University Hospital, Seoul National University College of Medicine, 101 Daehak-ro, Jongno-gu, Seoul 110-744, Korea. Tel: +82-2-2072-0820, Fax: +82-2-742-3291, Email: helenmed@snu.ac.kr
    Received March 03, 2015; Revised May 20, 2015; Accepted May 22, 2015.

    This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/).

    Abstract

    Cetuximab, a chimeric mouse-human immunoglobulin, is an antiepidermal growth factor receptor monoclonal antibody. It has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of metastatic colorectal and head/neck cancer, but can cause fatal hypersensitivity reactions in some patients. A 66-year-old male with metastatic sigmoid cancer had cetuximab-induced anaphylaxis when the first dose of cetuximab was administered. Cetuximab was safely readministered for another 15 cycles based on the rapid desensitization protocol. We experienced a case of cetuximab-induced anaphylaxis on the first exposure which was successfully managed by rapid desensitization.

    Keywords
    Cetuximab; Hypersensitivity; Immunologic desensitization

    Tables

    Table 1
    The preparation of 4-bottle tenfold increasing solutions used in the rapid 12-step desensitization protocol in the present case of the cetuximab-induced delayed hypersensitivity

    Notes

    This study was supported by a grant from Ministry of Food and Drug Safety to operation of the Regional Pharmacovigilance Center in 2015.

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    MeSH Terms
    Aged
    Anaphylaxis*
    Cetuximab
    Desensitization, Immunologic
    Humans
    Hypersensitivity
    Immunoglobulins
    Male
    Sigmoid Neoplasms
    United States Food and Drug Administration
    Metrics
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