Could enzalutamide cause sleep apnea?

Although this is a single case study, we mention it here as it relates to the benefits and risks of using enzalutamide for ADT. Sleep apnea is an interruption of breathing during sleep. Sleep apnea can lead to severe fatigue. In this study a 58-year old patient with no risk factors for sleep apnea developed the condition after going on enzalutamide. He stops taking the enzalutamide and the apnea disappeared. This raises the question of whether any of the fatigue experienced by patients in the two studies just summarized, might be related to sleep apnea.

 

Labrize F, Cany L, Massard C, Loriot Y, Sargos P, Gross-Goupil M, Roubaud G. 2015. Enzalutamide and sleep apnea: an emerging central nervous system side effect? Ann Oncol [Epub ehead of print] 7 October 2015. www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26445811