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Vol.39 No.1 contents | Japanese/English |
- Case Report -
A Case of Drug-induced Pneumonitis Probably Due to Irinotecan Hydrochloride
Junji Tsurutani1,2, Minoru Fukuda2, Masaaki Fukuda3, Hiroshi Takatani2, Mikio Oka2 and Shigeru Kohno21Internal Medicine, National Takeo Hospital, Saga, 2Second Department of Internal Medicine, Nagasaki University School of Medicine, Nagasaki, 3Internal Medicine, Japanese Red Cross Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Hospital, Nagasaki, JAPAN
A 51-year-old patient with extensive small cell lung cancer was treated with a total of 560 mg (320 mg/m2) of irinotecan hydrochloride (CPT-11) following two cycles of cisplatin and etoposide. In the seventh week after the start of CPT-11 therapy, the patient complained of hacking cough and exertional dyspnea with a high fever. Chest X-ray film and chest computed tomogram showed ground-glass opacity mainly in both lower lung fields. Drug-induced pneumonitis due to CPT-11 was strongly suspected, and prednisolone was orally administered and methylprednisolone was administered intravenously. After the steroid therapy, the symptoms and lung opacity gradually disappeared. Although CPT-11-induced pneumonitis is rare, oncologists should be aware of the possibility of its occurring during or following CPT-11 administration.
key words: CPT-11, Drug-induced pneumonitis, Small cell lung cancer, Cancer chemotherapy
Received: June 12, 1998
Accepted: November 16, 1998
JJLC 39 (1): 57-61, 1999
