Abstract：Objective To analyze the clinical features of patients with head and neck cancer who develop anosmia after treatment with anti-epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) monoclonal antibodies, and to investigate the safety of anti-EGFR monoclonal antibodies and the possible mechanism by which they cause anosmia, given the literature reviewed. Methods A retrospective analysis was performed on the clinical data of 328 patients with head and neck cancer (squamous cell carcinoma and nasopharyngeal carcinoma), who were treated with anti-EGFR monoclonal antibodies plus intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) with/without concurrent chemotherapy in our institution from January 2008 to September 2012, and treatment-related acute toxicities were statistically analyzed. Results Two (0.6%) of the 328 patients developed anosmia after the first dose of anti-EGFR monoclonal antibody given one week before IMRT with/without concurrent chemotherapy, and both were middle-aged male patients initially treated. The first patient still used cetuximab after developing anosmia and did not recover his olfaction at 0.5 year after treatment as shown by follow-up;for the other patient, treatment was suspended for 13 d after anosmia was developed in the treatment with cetuximab and then the olfaction was partially restored, but no improvement was seen after 3 months of treatment with nimotuzumab. Thus, we suggested that anti-EGFR monoclonal antibodies contributed to anosmia in the two patients, but the exact mechanism was unknown. Conclusions Sufficient attention should be paid to the unexplained rare toxicities in the treatment with anti-EGFR monoclonal antibodies.
Yin Zhenzhen,Yi Junlin,Huang Xiaodong et al. Anosmia associated with anti-EGFR monoclonal antibodies in head and neck cancer:an analysis of two patients[J]. Chinese Journal of Radiation Oncology, 2014, 23(2): 140-142.
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