CASE REPORT article
Front. Oncol.
Sec. Breast Cancer
Volume 15 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fonc.2025.1534112
This article is part of the Research TopicThe Essential Role of Multidisciplinary Teams in Breast Cancer Surgery: Collaboration for Superior Patient OutcomesView all 6 articles
A successful multidisciplinary approach to doxorubicin extravasation from a PICC-port in a patient with breast cancer: a case report
Provisionally accepted
Concetta Calabrò1
Serena Iacovelli1
Giuseppe De Palma2*
Giuseppe Carravetta1Domenica Garofalo1
Francesco Giotta1Agnese Latorre1Patrizia Nardulli1Cosmo Maurizio Ressa1Elsa Vitale1Valerio De Santis1
Giovanni Mastrandrea1- 1IRCCS Istituto Tumori "Giovanni Paolo II" Bari, Bari, Italy
- 2Bari John Paul II Cancer Institute, National Cancer Institute Foundation (IRCCS), Bari, Italy
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Background: Infusion of chemotherapy drugs through central venous catheters in the bloodstream facilitates direct access to disseminated cancer sites to interrupt the growth and/or spread of abnormal cells. To represent the significance of a rapid, multidisciplinary intervention codified by a hospital adopted procedure for the treatment of this specific type of extravasation.Methods: A case of female patient 63 year-old was, with no comorbidities but overweight, admitted to our hospital in 2023 was discussed. The oncologist requested the placement of a long-term central venous access for chemotherapy, expected to last at least five to six months. This case report describes a massive anthracycline extravasation through a PICC-port. Such a serious complication requires not only the prompt administration of dexrazoxane, but more importantly, a multidisciplinary approach. Without comprehensive and timely intervention, the patient would have likely lost the upper limb.Clinical implications: Following the surgical and pharmacological treatment, the patient achieved a restoration of normal limb function, thus resuming all regular activities. This outcome was made possible primarily due to the timely and professional intervention of the multidisciplinary team, which minimized the severe complications that doxorubicin extravasation can cause. Tunneling of the catheter, which moves the extravasation site (port pocket) away from the venipuncture site, is equally important. Another noteworthy element is the resumption of chemotherapy treatment, which might have been interrupted due to the severe complication resulting from the extravasation.
Keywords: breast cancer, intravenous chemotherapy drugs, doxorubicin extravasation, Multidisciplinary intervention, long-term central venous access, PICC-PORT, Necrosis
Received: 25 Nov 2024; Accepted: 25 Jun 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Calabrò, Iacovelli, De Palma, Carravetta, Garofalo, Giotta, Latorre, Nardulli, Ressa, Vitale, De Santis and Mastrandrea. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Giuseppe De Palma, Bari John Paul II Cancer Institute, National Cancer Institute Foundation (IRCCS), Bari, Italy
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