Pancreatitis associated with newer classes of antineoplastic therapies

Abstract

Newer anticancer therapies including tyrosine kinase inhibitors, immune modulators, immunotherapies, and chemotherapies have been reported to cause acute pancreatitis. This review gathers data from multiple case reports and small case series that associate these agents with pancreatitis. The mechanism of the pancreatitis may be direct toxicity, elevated triglycerides, immune mediated, or injury with direct injection into the liver, pancreas, or its blood supply. As abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting are associated with cancer chemotherapy itself, the diagnosis of acute pancreatitis might be missed.