Hepatotoxicity secondary to chemotherapy

Abstract

The difficult problem faced by multiple generation of practi-cing physicians is determining the cause of abnormal liver function tests in cancer patients on chemotherapy. Hepatotoxicity from chemotherapy occurs frequently from an unpredictable or idiosyncratic reaction. Despite remark-able advances in our understanding of the mechanisms of action, pharmacodynamics, and interrelationships between the liver and chemotherapy, the underlying etiology of hepatic toxicity for various agents remains unexplained. Here, we present a concise review of the broad differential diagnosis for abnormal liver function tests (LFTs) in oncology patients.