Cyclophosphamide and doxorubicin-induced acute pancreatitis in a patient with breast cancer

Predominantly occurring as a consequence of alcohol use or biliary stones, acute pancreatitis is rarely caused by chemotherapy. Lately, there have been increasing published reports and reviews of drug-induced pancreatitis from a wide array of antineoplastic drugs. We present a case of a patient recently diagnosed with Stage 3 breast cancer who was initially treated with cyclophosphamide and doxorubicin and subsequently developed acute pancreatitis, which recurred twice after a re-challenge with cyclophosphamide and epirubicin, a derivative of doxorubicin, given individually on two separate occasions. Acute pancreatitis reported in this case is defined by its clinical manifestations, biochemical evidence and imaging studies. To our knowledge, this is the first case of acute pancreatitis occurring in a patient with breast cancer associated with these chemotherapeutic agents.