Published in:
01-06-2012 | Case Report
Pericardial effusion and tamponade following interferon alpha treatment for locally advanced melanoma
Published in: Medical Oncology | Issue 2/2012
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Regional Metastatic Melanoma has a relatively high mortality rate. Adjuvant interferon-alpha (IFN-α) has been shown to improve disease-free survival, post-resection. Cardiotoxicity associated with IFN-α use has been described previously in the literature, but here we describe the first case of pericardial effusion with cardiac tamponade secondary to IFN-α 2b treatment of melanoma. Clinicians should be aware of this potentially lethal complication and the possible acuity of its onset.