The frequency of hypersensitivity reactions to chemotheropathic agents in cancer patients

Aim: The aim of our study is to identify the frequency and the types of immediate hypersensitivity reactions that might be encountered during chemotherapy usage as well as which chemotherapeutics carry more risk of causing immediate hypersensitiviy reactions, to make the expactations of the units that perform chemotherapies more concrete for at least immediate hypersensitivity reactions and the precautions to be taken. Materials and Methods: Sixty one patients with cancer who were hospitalised and treated in the pediatric oncology clinic of the Department of Pediatrics of Karadeniz Technical University Medical Faculty between 1 May and 31 October 2010 were followed. The demographic features (age, gender and type of the cancer) of each patient were recorded. The number of total chemotherapeutic drug dosage, the number of total dosage for each chemotherapeutic drug, the number of total hypersensitivity reactions, the number of reactions against each chemotherapeutic agent,the frequency of common hypersensitivity reaction (total reaction number/total chemotherapy dosage) and the frequency of hypersensitivity reaction for each chemotherapeutic agent (reaction number/the dosage of chemotherapeutic agent) were calculated. Findings: A total of 61 patients (30 male, %49,1, mean age: 9+-4,9 years) were followed. During the study period, 9 of 1992 (%0,4) chemotherapeutic dosages have been determined to cause immediate hypersensitivity reactions. Of the 61 patients followed during the study with the diagnosis of cancer, 8 developed hypersensitivity reaction (13%). All of the anaphylactic reactions were mild. Result: It has been determined that the frequency of immediate hypersensitivity reactions against chemotherapeutic drugs was quite low and severe, life-threatening type anaphylactic reactions were not present.