[Interstitial pneumonia after CMC (CDDP, MMC, CPM) therapy]

Six patients receiving CDDP, MMC, and CPM chemotherapy for adjuvant chemotherapy after a resection due to lung cancer developed interstitial pneumonia. They were re-admitted for dyspnea, shortness of breath, and dry cough from 80 to 118 days from start of their treatment. On re-admission, their chest radiographs showed reticular infiltrates, and their laboratory data showed severe hypoxemia. The pathological findings of a transbronchial lung biopsy showed a thickening of the alveolar septa. Steroid therapy resulted in a complete resolution in one patient and a partial resolution the 5 others. One year later, two patients had died, one patient remains in complete resolution, but a shortness of breath still exists in the remaining three patients. Considering the disadvantages of that shortness of breath can cause to daily life, we should be more cautious about administering antineoplastic agents for adjuvant chemotherapy to patients with a cancer in an early stage.