Cutaneous adverse reactions resulting from targeted cancer therapies: histopathologic and clinical findings

Dylan Haynes; Eric E Morgan; Emily Y Chu

doi:10.1016/j.humpath.2023.04.014

Cutaneous adverse reactions resulting from targeted cancer therapies: histopathologic and clinical findings

Hum Pathol. 2023 Oct:140:129-143. doi: 10.1016/j.humpath.2023.04.014. Epub 2023 May 4.

Authors

Dylan Haynes¹, Eric E Morgan², Emily Y Chu³

Affiliations

¹ Department of Dermatology, Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA.
² Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, 19104 USA.
³ Department of Dermatology, Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA. Electronic address: emily.chu@pennmedicine.upenn.edu.

PMID: 37146945
DOI: 10.1016/j.humpath.2023.04.014

Abstract

Targeted cancer treatments-designed to interfere with specific molecular signals responsible for tumor survival and progression-have shown benefit over conventional chemotherapies but may lead to diverse cutaneous adverse effects. This review highlights clinically significant dermatologic toxicities and their associated histopathologic findings, resulting from various targeted cancer drugs. Case reports and series, clinical trials, reviews, and meta-analyses are included for analysis and summarized herein. Cutaneous side effects resulting from targeted cancer therapies were reported with incidences as high as 90% for certain medications, and reactions are often predictable based on mechanism(s) of action of a given drug. Common and important reaction patterns included: acneiform eruptions, neutrophilic dermatoses, hand-foot skin reaction, secondary cutaneous malignancies, and alopecia. Clinical and histopathologic recognition of these toxicities remains impactful for patient care.

Keywords: Cutaneous adverse effects; Dermatopathology; Skin; Targeted cancer therapy; Targeted kinase inhibitor.