Reactions 1368 - 10 Sep 2011

SAntineoplastics

Exacerbation of interstitial pneumonia in elderlypatients: 4 case reports

Four elderly men developed exacerbation of interstitialpneumonia after receiving antineoplastics.

The four patients, aged 74, 66, 79 and 72 years, had lungcancer associated with interstitial pneumonia and receivedantineoplastics for treatment. One patient had small celllung cancer and three had non-small cell lung cancer(squamous epithelial cancer [two patients] andadenocarcinoma [one patient]). Patient 1 receivedvinorelbine, patient 2 received carboplatin and etoposide,patient 3 received docetaxel and patient 4 receivedcarboplatin and paclitaxel [dosages and routes ofadministration not stated]. After 7–14 weeks of treatment,the patients developed acute exacerbation of interstitialpneumonia.

The patients all received methylprednisolone pulsetherapy. Three patients died of respiratory failure, but onepatient showed improvement of symptoms.Sato K, et al. Clinical features of acute exacerbation of interstitial pneumoniaassociated with lung cancer after chemotherapy. [Japanese]. Gan to Kagaku Ryoho36: 1493-1497, No. 9, Sep 2009 [Japanese; summarised from a translation] -Japan 803059743

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Reactions 10 Sep 2011 No. 13680114-9954/10/1368-0001/$14.95 © 2010 Adis Data Information BV. All rights reserved