Iatrogenic copper deficiency following information and drugs obtained over the Internet.
We report the case of a 56-year-old woman with a 7-year history of metastatic cancer who presented with severe copper deficiency following self-treatment with the copper-chelating agent tetrathiomolybdate. This compound was used with the aim of inhibiting tumour angiogenesis and was obtained from the USA by placing an order on the internet. The patient exhibited severe neutropenia as her serum copper concentration fell from 19.8 micromol/L to 3.3 micromol/L and her caeruloplasmin concentration from 35 mg/dL to 4 mg/dL.
Lang
T F
TF
Department of Clinical Biochemistry, The John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford, OX3 9DU, UK. tim.lang@orh.nhs.uk
Glynne-Jones
R
R
Blake
S
S
Taylor
A
A
Kay
J D S
JD
D003300:Copper / Q000172:deficiency*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007049:Iatrogenic Disease; D020407:Internet; D008875:Middle Aged; D008982:Molybdenum / Q000009:adverse effects*; D012648:Self Care / Q000009:adverse effects*
D003300:Copper; D008982:Molybdenum; C020809:tetrathiomolybdate