Merlo Pierina, Rochlitz Christoph, Osthoff Michael
Division of Internal Medicine, University Hospital Basel, Basel, Switzerland.
Department of Oncology, University Hospital Basel, Basel, Switzerland.
Case Rep Oncol. 2021 Feb 24;14(1):73-77. doi: 10.1159/000513427. eCollection 2021 Jan-Apr.
A 78-year-old man with metastatic prostate cancer was referred to the hospital 5 weeks after the initiation of systemic therapy with goserelin (GnRH agonist) because of a significant increase in alkaline phosphatase (ALP) concentration despite clinical improvement. Further workup revealed a decrease in prostate-specific antigen levels and a lack of radiological signs of disease progression. Subsequently, the ALP dropped spontaneously. This case report is an example for an early ALP flare after initiation of endocrine therapy in patients with bone metastasis which is consistent with a treatment response. Clinicians should be familiar with the ALP flare phenomenon in this setting, which does not reflect disease progression or treatment failure, in order to prevent unnecessary investigations, hospital admissions, or even erroneous termination of successful therapy.
一名78岁的转移性前列腺癌男性患者,在开始使用戈舍瑞林(GnRH激动剂)进行全身治疗5周后,因碱性磷酸酶(ALP)浓度显著升高而被转诊至医院,尽管临床症状有所改善。进一步检查发现前列腺特异性抗原水平下降,且无疾病进展的影像学征象。随后,ALP自发下降。本病例报告是骨转移患者内分泌治疗开始后早期ALP激增的一个例子,这与治疗反应一致。临床医生应熟悉这种情况下的ALP激增现象,它并不反映疾病进展或治疗失败,以避免不必要的检查、住院,甚至错误地终止成功的治疗。