Drug-induced liver injury highly probable due to goserelin: a case report evaluated with the updated RUCAM (2016)
Goserelin is widely used for prostate cancer, but drug-induced liver injury (DILI) has been rarely reported. We present a patient who developed ALT/AST elevations after each subcutaneous injection, followed by improvement after withdrawal and hepatoprotective therapy, with positive rechallenge upon re-exposure. By the EASL definition, the <i>R</i>-value was ≈6.0, indicating a hepatocellular pattern; Hy's law was not fulfilled. Causality assessed with the updated RUCAM (2016) yielded a total score of 11, corresponding to highly probable. Although the ALT peak did not exceed 5 × ULN, the consistent temporal association and positive rechallenge prompted discontinuation/adjustment of goserelin with close biochemical follow-up, achieving a favorable outcome. This case underscores the need for vigilant monitoring-particularly with higher doses or re-exposure-and highlights the utility of <i>R</i>-value typing, Hy's law, and the updated RUCAM in guiding management. Liver biopsy was not performed, representing a limitation.
Authors
- Zhun Xiao (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3420-6915)
- Xiqian Zhang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4486-8042)
- Yanmin Li (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4970-9638)
- Longfei Zhang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2571-4953)
- Suping Ma
Institutions
- Henan University of Traditional Chinese Medicine (CN)
- Innovation Team (China) (HK)
- First Affiliated Hospital of Henan University (CN)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Frontiers in Medicine
- Published
- 2025-12-03
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.3389/fmed.2025.1683370
- Citations
- 1
- Primary Topic
- Drug-Induced Hepatotoxicity and Protection
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 1.56