Successful treatment of idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura‐like syndrome in a cancer patient with low‐dose interferon: Case report and review of the literature

Idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP)‐like syndrome is a rare complication of carcinomas, and its treatment usually precedes cancer therapy in order to make further procedures safe. We describe the case of a 78‐year‐old man with a small‐cell lung cancer of extended stage, associated with ITP‐like syndrome, which proved resistant to treatment with corticosteroids and vincristine, short‐responsive to IV immunoglobulin, but quickly and steadily responsive to low‐dose interferon (ld IFN, 3 million IU, sc, twice weekly, for 8 weeks), until the patient's death, due to his primarily chemoresistant cancer. This case is, to our knowledge, the second reported ITP‐like syndrome in a cancer patient who had been successfully treated with ld IFN. The excellent and cost‐effective therapeutic index of ld IFN makes it an attractive alternative treatment in patients with this specific complication and calls for further investigation regarding its potential use as a first‐line treatment. Am. J. Hematol. 76:353–359, 2004. © 2004 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.