Acute Coronary Syndrome Occurring in a Sub-Saharan Patient Treated with a Reduced Dose of Sorafenib for an Unresectable Hepatocellular Carcinoma: Case Report

Abstract

Sorafenib is a chemotherapy used as first line treatment in primary liver cancers. It is an oral antiangiogenic treatment which reduces the progression of the tumor. Some mild or severe side effects have been reported among which some uncommon cardiac events: myocardial infarction and cardiogenic stroke. Sorafenib treatment remains expensive and not frequently used in Sub-Saharan countries. Thus, few studies have described its side effects in this milieu. We report a case of acute coronary syndrome occurring in a 75-year-old female patient, without cardiovascular risks factors, after nine months of sorafenib chemotherapy at a reduced dose for an unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma in a Sub-Saharan Africa country. The management was conducted by cardiologists, in collaboration with gastroenterologists and oncologists. We decided to completely stop sorafenib chemotherapy. We observed a reduction of the pain 48 hours after her admission, and a regression of electrocardiographic signs after 8 days. In conclusion, the sorafenib treatment can be associated with cardiac events despite the dose reduction.