[Seven cases of gemcitabine-induced lung injury during treatment for pancreatic or biliary tract cancers].

ABSTRACT

Gemcitabine is an anti-cancer drug known to be safe and effective for pancreatic or biliary tract cancers, but lung injury is also known to be a rare side effect that sometimes becomes severe. Here we report seven cases of lung injury during gemcitabine treatment. Drug-induced lung injury was suspected in all cases. The male female ratio was 52, and the average patient age was 71. Four had pancreatic cancers and three had biliary tract cancers. Gemcitabine had been administered an average 5.9 times at a dose of 1,141 mg. Patients showed a diffuse or patchy shadow mainly in the lower lung on computed tomography examination. Grades of adverse events were greater than 3 in all cases. Three patients died of the lung injury. Five cases had pulmonary emphysema, 2 had metastatic lung tumor as underlying pulmonary lesions, and these were assumed to have been important risk factors for drug-induced interstitial lung injury during gemcitabine treatment.