Hand-foot syndrome associated with short infusions of combination chemotherapy with gemcitabine and vinorelbine.

The hand-foot syndrome (palmar-plantar erythrodysesthesia) is a side-effect which is associated with several cytotoxic agents (e.g. 5-fluorouracil, UFT, capecitabine, cytarabine, doxorubicin, liposomal-encapsulated doxorubicin). An association with a prolonged infusion of high doses of vinorelbine has also been described. To date a hand-foot syndrome after gemcitabine or short infusions of vinorelbine has not been reported before. The patient described here had a non-small-cell lung cancer stage IIIB disease and developed a hand-foot syndrome after short infusions of standard-dose chemotherapy of a combination with gemcitabine and vinorelbine.