Anmerkungen:
Hinweis: Link zur Erstveröffentlichung URL: https://doi.org/10.1159/000497216
Beschreibung:
Some chemotherapy formulations contain ethanol as a solvent
which can become relevant for medical and nonmedical
reasons. Only a few studies have tried to quantify the effects
of ethanol in chemotherapy preparations. Furthermore,
the alcohol amount highly depends on the specific
formulation, with some variation among different manufacturers.
Although the actual increase in blood alcohol levels
after ethanol-based chemotherapies seems to be limited,
the FDA recently released a warning that docetaxel may
cause symptoms of alcohol intoxication. Here, we report on
a patient with breast cancer who experienced a relapse of
alcohol abuse after a single docetaxel infusion. We hypothesize
a causal relationship with the ethanol-containing
docetaxel infusion. Today, no guidelines exist for the use of
ethanol-based chemotherapy, and patient consent forms do
not address this matter. We conclude that physicians prescribing chemotherapy and patients should be aware of the
potential risks of ethanol-containing infusions and nonethanol-
based alternatives should be discussed when needed or
desired by the patient. This could be facilitated by revised
patient consent forms.