Objective: To investigate the incidence and characteristic clinical features of acute exacerbation of interstitial pneumonia( IP)associated with lung cancer after chemotherapy.
Methods: With this aim, we retrospectively evaluated 41 cases of lung cancer associated with IP between January 2004 and December 2006.
Results: Of 41 patients (male/ female ratio: 40/1, mean age: 71.0+/-7.0 years; non-small-cell lung cancer/small-cell lung cancer ratio: 30/11), 4 (9.8%) developed acute exacerbation of IP, and 3 died of respiratory failure. There were no differences between the acute exacerbation group and the non-exacerbation group with regard to the clinical features of IP and chemotherapy regimen. Moreover, 5 patients were not diagnosed with IP before chemotherapy.
Conclusion: We conclude that lung cancer patients should be carefully evaluated for preexisting IP and that careful informed decision-making regarding chemotherapy is crucial in cases of lung cancer associated with IP, because acute exacerbation of IP is relatively common, and difficult to predict in association with high mortality.