• Clinical Pain
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.106-110
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• 2020

Radiation recall is an uncommon phenomenon in which administration of a chemotherapy or another systemic agent induces an acute inflammatory reaction in previously irradiated tissues, often weeks to years after completion of radiotherapy. Gemcitabine can induce an inflammatory reaction within an area of prior radiation. Radiation recall is known to medical oncologists, however only few cases have been reported in Korean journals, therefore physiatrist who diagnose and treat the treatment-related physical impairments of cancer patients must know about it. We emphasize the importance of knowledge of this phenomenon when considering the differential diagnosis of painful limb edema in a patient who has received cancer treatment.

• Radiation Oncology Journal
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• v.35 no.3
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• pp.289-294
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• 2017

Sorafenib is widely used for unresectable and metastatic hepatocellular carcinomas. Radiation recall dermatitis (RRD) is an acute inflammatory reaction confined to previously irradiated skin that occurs after the administration of certain drugs. RRD after sorafenib treatment is rare; five cases have been reported thus far. We describe a 44-year-old man irradiated for chest wall bone metastasis from hepatocellular carcinoma. Eight days after radiotherapy completion, systemic therapy for metastatic hepatocellular carcinoma was initiated with sorafenib treatment. Eleven days after starting sorafenib, the patient complained of erythematous rash with pruritus in the chest wall, in a location consistent with the previous radiation field. Sorafenib was continued at the same dose, despite the RRD. The skin reaction subsided over the next 2 weeks without any medical intervention.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.61 no.2
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• pp.167-170
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• 2006

A radiation recall reaction refers to an inflammatory reaction at previous irradiated areas subsequent to the administration of a variety of pharmacological agents. The skin is the major site of radiation recall reactons with the muscle and internal organs being less commonly affected. These reactions usually occur days to weeks after exposure to the causative agents. We report a case of gemcitabine-induced radiation recall dermato-myositis the developed in a female patient with a metastatic non-small cell lung cancer. She had received a palliative radiation therapy of 3900 cGy to the metastatic lesion on the femur shaft prior to chemotherapy. The pain, swelling and erythema of the left thigh resolved after the cessation of gemcitabine and the use of a systemic steroid.

• Radiation Oncology Journal
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• v.31 no.3
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• pp.171-174
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• 2013

Sorafenib is a multi-targeted kinase inhibitor, which is the current standard treatment for advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Only one case of radiation recall dermatitis (RRD) associated with sorafenib has been reported so far. Our patient with recurrent HCC was treated with palliative radiotherapy (RT) for the chest wall mass. Sorafenib at 400 mg twice daily was begun on the day following RT. On the 14th day post-RT, an erythematous patch was observed on right chest wall which matched area previously irradiated. It was consistent with RRD. Ten days later, a disseminated exanthematous rash and severe pruritus occurred. Sorafenib was stopped and an oral antihistamine was prescribed to relieve symptoms. At the 1-week follow-up after the cessation of sorafenib, all symptoms were resolved. Physicians should be alert to this recall phenomenon as it can occur both in the skin and elsewhere and the occurrence of RRD may be unpredictable.

• Radiation Oncology Journal
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.156-159
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• 2016

Although carbohydrate antigen (CA) 19-9 is a useful tumor marker for pancreatic cancer, it can also become elevated from a variety of benign and malignant conditions. Herein we describe an unusual presentation of elevated CA 19-9 in an asymptomatic patient who had previously undergone adjuvant chemotherapy and radiation therapy for resected early stage pancreatic cancer. The rise in CA 19-9 might be due to delayed radiation-induced inflammation related to previous intra-abdominal radiation therapy with or without radiation recall induced by gemcitabine. After treatment with corticosteroids the CA 19-9 level decreased to normal, and the patient has not developed any evidence of recurrent cancer to date.