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This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) All Versions of this Article: ERC-08-0103v1 15/4/1043    most recent Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Google Scholar Articles by Daffara, F. Articles by Terzolo, M. PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Daffara, F. Articles by Terzolo, M.

¹ Medicina Interna I, A.S.O. San Luigi, Regione Gonzole, 10, 10043 Orbassano, Italy² Farmacologia, A.S.O. San Luigi, Regione Gonzole, 10, 10043 Orbassano, Italy³ Oncologia Medica, A.S.O. San Luigi, Regione Gonzole, 10, 10043 Orbassano, Italy⁴ Urologia, A.S.O. San Luigi, Regione Gonzole, 10, 10043 Orbassano, Italy⁵ Anatomia Patologica, A.S.O. San Luigi, Regione Gonzole, 10, 10043 Orbassano, Italy⁶ Dipartimento di Scienze Cliniche e Biologiche, Università di Torino and Laboratorio Analisi, A.S.O. San Luigi, Regione Gonzole, 10, 10043 Orbassano, Italy

(Correspondence should be addressed to M Terzolo; Email: terzolo{at}usa.net)

Toxicity of adjuvant mitotane treatment is poorly known; thus, our aim was to assess prospectively the unwanted effects of adjuvant mitotane treatment and correlate the findings with mitotane concentrations. Seventeen consecutive patients who were treated with mitotane after radical resection of adrenocortical cancer (ACC) from 1999 to 2005 underwent physical examination, routine laboratory evaluation, monitoring of mitotane concentrations, and a hormonal work-up at baseline and every 3 months till ACC relapse or study end (December 2007). Mitotane toxicity was graded using NCI CTCAE criteria. All biochemical measurements were performed at our center and plasma mitotane was measured by an in-house HPLC assay. All the patients reached mitotane concentrations >14 mg/l and none of them discontinued definitively mitotane for toxicity; 14 patients maintained consistently elevated mitotane concentrations despite tapering of the drug. Side effects occurred in all patients but were manageable with palliative treatment and adjustment of hormone replacement therapy. Mitotane affected adrenal steroidogenesis with a more remarkable inhibition of cortisol and DHEAS than aldosterone. Mitotane induced either perturbation of thyroid function mimicking central hypothyroidism or, in male patients, inhibition of testosterone secretion. The discrepancy between salivary and serum cortisol, as well as between total and free testosterone, is due to the mitotane-induced increase in hormone-binding proteins which complicates interpretation of hormone measurements. A low-dose monitored regimen of mitotane is tolerable and able to maintain elevated drug concentrations in the long term. Mitotane exerts a complex effect on the endocrine system that may require multiple hormone replacement therapy.