title: Genital and inguinal cutaneous toxicity in male and female patients treated with sunitinib.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Sunitinib is an orally tyrosine kinase inhibitor currently approved by the Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of advanced renal cell carcinoma (RCC) and gastrointestinal stromal tumor. Several cutaneous toxicities have been observed with Sunitinib and among those scrotal cutaneous toxicity could affect 12.5% of patients after an average 66 days of exposure to treatment.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  We report the first case of a female patient who develops vulvar toxicity during sunitinib treatment.
  
  
  METHODS
  A 68-year-old female patient was treated with sunitinib at standard dose of 50 mg/daily for four weeks on and two weeks off, for advanced clear cell RCC. During week 2 of the second cycle of sunitinib, the patient reported vulvar pain and itching.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Local examination revealed erythema of the outer lips and two erythematosus areas localized on the upper medial area of the legs. The sunitinib was discontinued, and the signs and symptoms disappeared completely seven days after drug interruption without any specific treatment.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Female genital cutaneous toxicity with sunitinib shows a similar behavior as found in males, and both should be carefully evaluated even if the treatment discontinuation is generally not required.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology Oncology and Human Pathology, Division of Oncology, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy. roberto.iacovelli@alice.it
authors.forename: Roberto
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Iacovelli
authors.forename: Maria Laura
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Mancini
authors.forename: Emanuela
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Risi
authors.forename: Antonella
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Palazzo
authors.forename: Enrico
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Cortesi
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000009:adverse effects*; D002292:Carcinoma, Renal Cell / Q000188:drug therapy; D005260:Female; D005832:Genital Diseases, Male / Q000139:chemically induced; D006801:Humans; D007211:Indoles / Q000009:adverse effects*; D007680:Kidney Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy; D008297:Male; D011758:Pyrroles / Q000009:adverse effects*; D012611:Scrotum / Q000473:pathology; D012871:Skin Diseases / Q000139:chemically induced*; D000077210:Sunitinib; D014845:Vulvar Diseases / Q000139:chemically induced*
chemical_list: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; D007211:Indoles; D011758:Pyrroles; D000077210:Sunitinib