Ultraviolet recall dermatitis reaction with sorafenib

Recall dermatitis is a rare and poorly understood drug-related event. Activated by exposure to sunlight or Ultraviolet (UV), drug-related phototoxic reactions have been reported with conventional chemotherapy agents or antibiotics.

Here, we report the first case of acute dermatologic photo-induced recall reaction secondary to sorafenib in a patient with renal cell carcinoma.

Four weeks after stopping sorafenib, a patient with renal cell carcinoma developed an acute erythematous and papulomatous eruption restricted to the hands after prolonged solar exposure. The erythematous region was very well demarcated, mimicking the cutaneous syndrome that the patient had presented at time he was receiving sorafenib.

The suppression of the phototoxic reaction by corticosteroids strongly suggests that the immune system may have an important function in photo-recall reactions.