Metastatic Breast Cancer Treatment After Abemaciclib-Related Liver Injury — Case 3

This breast cancer diagnosis at a glance

Stage at diagnosis
Stage IV
Sex
female
Treatment
hormone therapy and targeted therapy
Outcome
Care Ongoing

Treatment course, step by step

  1. She started fulvestrant with abemaciclib.
  2. Abemaciclib was stopped after severe liver injury on day 43.
  3. Endocrine therapy was changed from fulvestrant to anastrozole.
  4. After liver recovery, she switched to palbociclib without recurrent liver dysfunction.

What happened, in summary

A 66-year-old woman with metastatic breast cancer was treated with fulvestrant and abemaciclib. On day 43, her ALT rose to 241 IU/L. Abemaciclib was stopped, and the ALT level fell by about half over the following 2 months. Her endocrine therapy was changed from fulvestrant to anastrozole. Abemaciclib was not restarted. Once her liver function improved, palbociclib was introduced as the replacement CDK4/6 inhibitor. Her ALT remained stable after the switch, with no recurrence of the severe liver dysfunction described during abemaciclib therapy. The treatment change allowed ongoing systemic therapy without recurrent liver toxicity.

Where this story comes from

This is a lay summary of an account first published by PMC / PubMed Central. Read the original in full

How we source and attribute stories Accuracy and limitations

Collections this story belongs to

Similar breast cancer stories

These are lay summaries of published cancer stories, for information only. No two cancers behave the same way, and nothing here predicts your own diagnosis or replaces advice from your oncology team. Read the full disclaimer

Search more breast cancer stories