Vandetanib

A 42-year-old man with metastatic medullary thyroid cancer and a history of androgenic alopecia developed alopecia areata after starting treatment with vandetanib at a dose of 100 mg/day for hepatic metastasis. Within a week, he experienced hair loss from his left sideburn and a round area on his right posterior scalp. Despite the hair loss, his cancer responded to the treatment, leading to an increase in vandetanib dosage to 200 mg/day. He chose not to treat the alopecia. One month later, the alopecia areata persisted. The diagnosis was vandetanib-associated alopecia areata, establishing a correlation between the drug and the onset of alopecia areata.