[Acute dyspnea following intravenous administration of vinblastine/mitomycin C]

A 49 year old woman treated for metastatic adenocarcinoma of the breast suddenly developed the symptoms of acute pulmonary edema 90 minutes after infusion of mitomycin C/vinblastine. No other causes of dyspnea were found. This dangerous side effect of mitomycin C/vinblastine therapy has been described previously. The appearance of dyspnea after the injection of vinblastine in patients treated with the above-mentioned drug combination should always be considered an alarming symptom.