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Vol.45 No.7 contents | Japanese/English |
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- Case Report -
A Case of Adenocarcinoma of the Lung Successfully Treated With Alternate Day Administration of Gefitinib
Katsunada Fujimoto1, Takanori Akagi1, Motokimi Shiraishi1, Takashige Kuraki1, Kentaro Watanabe11Department of Medicine, Division of Respiratory Medicine, Fukuoka University School of Medicine, Japan
Background. Gefitinib is administered to patients with adenocarcinoma of the lung with poor response to previous anticancer chemotherapies. However, adverse effects such as diarrhea, are serious problems for those patients. Case. A 71-year-old woman with adenocarcinoma of the lung was admitted to our hospital (clinical stage IIIB) in February 2002. She underwent anticancer chemotherapy, including platinum, repeatedly. Since the response was poor, she was treated with 250 mg gefitinib daily. As severe diarrhea developed, gefitinib was stopped for 7 days, and gefitinib with a reduced dose (250 mg/every second day) was given. Three months later, partial response was obtained with a 44% reduction rate in tumor size by RECIST (Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors). Conclusion. There are no reports on patients with adenocarcinoma of the lung in whom successful clinical effect without adverse effects were observed by alternate day administration of gefitinib. After considering for sensitivity to gefitinib, it is necessary to study the relationship between pharmacokinetics of gefitinib with alternate day administration and clinical effects as well as the standard administration. Such studies would contribute to advances in increased clinical efficacy of gefitinib with reduced economical problems.
key words: Adenocarcinoma of the lung, Gefitinib, Alternate day administration, Pharmacokinetics
Received: January 17, 2005
Accepted: August 22, 2005
JJLC 45 (7): 833-837, 2005
