Home Blood-Pressure Monitoring in Patients Receiving Sunitinib

• Published in: The New England journal of medicine Vol. 358; no. 1; pp. 95 - 97
• Main Authors: Azizi, Michel, Chedid, Antoine, Oudard, Stéphane
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Massachusetts Medical Society 03-01-2008
• Subjects: Angiogenesis Inhibitors - adverse effects; Antineoplastic Agents - adverse effects; Blood Pressure - drug effects; Blood Pressure Monitoring, Ambulatory; Carcinoma, Renal Cell - drug therapy; Heart Rate - drug effects; Home Nursing; Humans; Hypertension - chemically induced; Hypertension - diagnosis; Indoles - adverse effects; Kidney Neoplasms - drug therapy; Pyrroles - adverse effects; Receptor Protein-Tyrosine Kinases; Telemedicine
• ISSN: 0028-4793; 1533-4406
• DOI: 10.1056/NEJMc072330

To the Editor:
The use of sunitinib, an inhibitor of the split-kinase-domain family of receptor tyrosine kinases (including vascular endothelial growth factor receptor types 1 and 2
1
), has been associated with a 15 to 25% incidence of hypertension in patients with advanced renal-cell carcinoma
2
,
3
; a similar incidence has been associated with other antiangiogenic drugs.
3
,
4
We report on 14 consecutive patients with metastatic renal-cell carcinoma who were being treated with sunitinib and in whom home monitoring of blood pressure by teletransmission revealed a rapid, marked increase in blood pressure, an effect that was not detected by casual . . .