[Cytostatic pneumopathy following chemotherapy for metastasizing breast neoplasm]

A 69-year-old patient treated with anticancer polychemotherapy for metastatic breast carcinoma died of respiratory distress and cardiac failure 3 months after commencement of therapy. At autopsy only a few pleural micrometastases were found. Microscopic study revealed early lung lesions due to cytotoxic drug treatment. While the earlier literature described different lesions associated with different antineoplastic drugs (busulfan, bleomycin), today there is more emphasis on the common pathological features. Therefore, instead of the expressions "busulfan lung" or "bleomycin lung", we suggest the use of the term "Zytostatika-Pneumopathie" (cytostatic drug induced lung disease).