Pharmacological Management of Bronchorrhea in Malignant Disease: A Systematic Literature Review

Malignant respiratory tract tumors can lead to massive fluid production, known as bronchorrhea. This symptom can be very distressing itself, and it can lead to or aggravate other symptoms such as dyspnea and cough. Pharmacological treatment options have been reported in the literature. However, no systematic evaluation of their effectiveness has been conducted so far.

To systematically identify, appraise, and evaluate the effectiveness of symptomatic pharmacological treatment of bronchorrhea in malignant disease in palliative care.

A systematic literature review in Medline, Embase, and the Cochrane Database, as well as citation tracking, hand searches of selected journals, and reference lists of retrieved articles, was performed. For the purpose of this review, only symptomatic treatments were considered.

No controlled clinical studies could be identified. Twenty of 48 retrieved references were analyzed in detail. These 20 case reports and case series dealt with the symptomatic pharmacological management of bronchorrhea in malignant disease; the other 28 had to be excluded for various reasons. The majority of patients suffered from bronchioloalveolar carcinoma. Reported treatments comprise corticosteroids, macrolide antibiotics, inhaled indomethacin, octreotide, and tyrosine-kinase inhibitors. For some drugs, significant clinical impact on distressing symptoms associated with bronchorrhea was reported.

There are only very limited data on the pharmacological management of bronchorrhea in malignant disease. Because of the distressing nature of the symptom, a pragmatic management strategy is essential. This can include promising treatment options reported in the literature but should also take into account availability, individual tolerability, and costs. Further research is needed.