Metastatic Breast Cancer Treatment After Abemaciclib-Related Liver Injury — Case 4

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 tamoxifen with abemaciclib.
  2. Abemaciclib was stopped after severe liver injury and briefly restarted, but it was permanently discontinued when ALT rose again.
  3. She continued tamoxifen alone for about 1 year.
  4. Palbociclib was later added without recurrent liver dysfunction.

What happened, in summary

A 52-year-old woman with metastatic breast cancer began tamoxifen with abemaciclib. By day 57, her ALT had risen to 1,361 IU/L, and abemaciclib was stopped. Her liver tests improved, but when abemaciclib was later reintroduced, ALT increased again from 27 IU/L to 434 IU/L. This recurrence led to permanent discontinuation of abemaciclib. She continued tamoxifen alone for about 1 year. Palbociclib was later introduced so that CDK4/6 inhibitor treatment could resume, and her ALT remained stable after the switch. The later palbociclib switch allowed treatment to continue without another episode of severe liver injury.

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