title: Acute pancreatitis during all-trans-retinoic acid treatment for acute promyelocytic leukemia in a patient without overt hypertriglyceridemia.
abstract: All-trans-retinoic acid (ATRA) has been successfully used in the treatment of acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL). One of its adverse effects is acute pancreatitis. In the literature, a proposed cause of acute pancreatitis is hypertriglyceridemia. Here, we present the case of a 45-year-old male with APL, treated with ATRA combined with induction chemotherapy (cytarabine and idarubicin), who developed acute pancreatitis without overt hypertriglyceridemia. This finding suggests that hypertriglyceridemia might not be the sole contributing factor in the pathogenesis of ATRA-induced acute pancreatitis and that attention should be paid to the possibility that ATRA treatment causes acute pancreatitis in the absence of overt hypertriglyceridemia.
authors.affiliation: Division of Medical Oncology, Department of Medicine, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, 201, Sec 2, Shih-Pai Road, Taipei 112, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Hao-Wei
authors.initials: HW
authors.lastname: Teng
authors.forename: Li-Yuan
authors.initials: LY
authors.lastname: Bai
authors.forename: Ta-Chung
authors.initials: TC
authors.lastname: Chao
authors.forename: Wei-Shu
authors.initials: WS
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Po-Min
authors.initials: PM
authors.lastname: Chen
mesh_terms: D000208:Acute Disease; D000971:Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D003561:Cytarabine / Q000008:administration & dosage; D006801:Humans; D015228:Hypertriglyceridemia; D015255:Idarubicin / Q000008:administration & dosage; D015473:Leukemia, Promyelocytic, Acute / Q000188:drug therapy*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010195:Pancreatitis / Q000139:chemically induced*; D014212:Tretinoin / Q000009:adverse effects*
chemical_list: D003561:Cytarabine; D014212:Tretinoin; D015255:Idarubicin