[A case of docetaxel-induced acute lung injury refractory to treatment]

A 59-year-old man was diagnosed with squamous cell cancer of the upper lobe of the left lung 11 months before his current admission. The clinical stage was T2N3M1(Stage IV). We started chemotherapy(carboplatin/gemcitabine), which was administered for 7 courses and discontinued 5 months before admission, but he subsequently showed a local relapse. Therefore, we restarted second-line chemotherapy(docetaxel)on admission. Only a single dose of docetaxel was administered, but the patient was diagnosed with respiratory failure 18 days afterwards. The chest roentgenogram and computed tomography showed ground-glass opacities. Bronchoalveolar lavage and blood test data showed no evidence of infection. We diagnosed the patient with acute lung injury induced by docetaxel. The patient was admitted to the intensive care unit, and therapy with steroids and sivelestat was initiated. In addition, artificial respiration, direct hemoperfusion with a polymyxin B-immobilized fiber column, etc., were performed. However, this intensive care regimen was unsuccessful, and the patient died 31 days after docetaxel administration. Docetaxel is generally used in the treatment of non-small-cell lung cancer. However, the present case showed that its use might lead to fatal drug-induced lung injury.