Feasibility re-evaluation of 75 mg/m² docetaxel in Japanese patients with previously treated non-small cell lung cancer.

OBJECTIVE: The primary objective of this study was to re-evaluate the feasibility of docetaxel at doses of up to 75 mg/m² in Japanese patients with previously treated non-small cell lung cancer. METHODS: Patients received escalated doses of docetaxel at 70 mg/m² (level 1) or 75 mg/m² (level 2) every 3 weeks until disease progression or unacceptable toxicities. Dose escalation was decided on the basis of dose-limiting toxicity in the first cycle of chemotherapy. RESULTS: At dose level 1, dose-limiting toxicity--Grade 3 febrile neutropenia--was observed in one of the six patients and at dose level 2, it was seen in one of the first six patients. Therefore, an additional 14 patients were enrolled at dose level 2, as originally planned. Among the total of 20 patients at dose level 2, 6 (<33%) developed dose-limiting toxicity in the first cycle: febrile neutropenia in 5 and pneumonia in 1. Finally, 10 (50%) of the 20 patients experienced toxicities that met the dose-limiting toxicity criteria, including 8 with febrile neutropenia throughout the treatment period, but this was manageable with dose reduction or appropriate supportive care. Other observed toxicities were predictable from the safety profile of decetaxel and were also well managed. Four partial responses were observed, giving an overall response rate of 15.4%. The median progression-free survival period of the patients overall was 4.0 months (95% confidence interval 1.4-6.6 months). CONCLUSIONS: Although docetaxel administration at an initial dose of 75 mg/m² requires careful attention because of the high incidence of febrile neutropenia, this dose is considered feasible according to the protocol definition in Japanese patients with previously treated non-small cell lung cancer.

Clinical practice in management of hydration for lung cancer patients receiving cisplatin-based chemotherapy in Japan: a questionnaire survey.

A questionnaire survey was performed to investigate the actual hydration methods used with cisplatin-containing regimens at various institutions in Japan to gain an overview of the varieties employed. Replies were received from 368 of 686 institutions board-certified by the Japanese Respiratory Society. In 233 institutions (63%), new lung cancer patients were treated regularly with regimens containing cisplatin at ≥60 mg/m2. In 172 institutions (48%), hydration with <3000 ml of intravenous saline was performed on day 1. In 225 institutions (65%), hydration was performed for up to 3 days at most, but no more than 48 (14%) of the institutions that responded did so on day 1 only. Two to three weeks of hospitalization was needed for the initial course at most institutions (76%). Thirteen institutions (4%) treated patients as outpatients after the second course, whereas none did so from the beginning of treatment. Despite inconsistencies among the methods used by the various institutions, 84% of those surveyed considered their approaches to be appropriate. Some useful objective indices for deciding the volume or duration of hydration are needed.

Remarkable Improvement in Clinical Course and Serum KL-6 Levels after Initiation of High-Dose Inhaled Budesonide in Pulmonary Sarcoidosis.

We present a pulmonary sarcoidosis patient with specific elevation of serum Krebs von den lungen-6 (KL-6) levels, who was successfully treated with inhaled corticosteroids. Pulmonary sarcoidosis was initially identified as a chest radiograph abnormality during a routine medical examination, and subsequently confirmed by a high serum level of soluble interleukin 2 receptor. The patient was started on high-dose inhaled budesonide because of high serum levels of angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) and KL-6. Following treatment, radiographic findings improved, ACE levels normalized, and serum KL-6 levels markedly decreased. No recurrence was detected at 100 months with a budesonide dosage of 800 µg/day. This case demonstrates the efficacy of highdose inhaled corticosteroids for the initial treatment of pulmonary sarcoidosis.

Pulmonary metastasis of endometrial stromal sarcoma.

Multiple round opacities suggestive of metastatic lung tumors were incidentally found on a chest x-ray film in a 43-year-old woman. The patient underwent hysterectomy for "myoma uteri" three years previously. Extensive examinations could not specify the primary neoplastic lesions. Morphological characteristics of the thracoscopically resected lung tumors suggested low-grade endometrial stromal sarcoma (ESS), and immunostaining revealed that the tumor cells were positive for progesterone and estrogen receptors, CD10 and vimentin, confirming a diagnosis of ESS. ESS is an uncommon uterine neoplasm, however, may be mistaken as benign tumors such as epithelioid leiomyoma, and occasionally metastasizes to remote organs such as lungs even after long disease-free period, posing diagnostic challenge.

[A case of bronchial foreign body due to citrus fruit seed aspiration showing multiple pulmonary infiltration repeatedly].

We report a case of a bronchial foreign body in a 76-year-old citrus fruit farmer. The patient was detected patchy infiltration (ground-glass attenuation) of the right upper lung field on the chest X-ray on Dec. 26th, 2003. The shadow tended to disappear after treatment with antibiotics. The same shadow was detected again 10 months later and the patient underwent a bronchoscopic examination. A foreign body was found lodged in the center of the right upper bronchus, associated with bronchial stenosis due to mucosal edema. The abnormal shadow disappeared after the foreign body, which we decided was a citrus fruit seed, was removed. From the time course of the present illness and a retrospective evaluation of previous chest X-rays, the patient had aspirated the foreign body 18 months prior to his admission for bronchoscopy. We should be careful of the possibility of foreign bodies even when the elderly do not present a history of foreign body aspiration. It is important to consider the possibility of a bronchial foreign body in patients with repeated pneumonia, and to perform bronchoscopy aggressively.

[A case of interstitial pneumonia induced by an ACE inhibitor (temocapril hydrochloride)].

A 51-year-old woman who had been treated for years for rheumatoid arthritis presented with a persistent dry cough and shortness of breath three weeks after administration of the ACE inhibitor temocapril hydrochloride against essential hypertension. Chest radiography and computed tomography showed diffuse reticular shadows and ground-grass opacities in both lung fields. Bronchoalveolar lavage fluid analysis showed an increase of lymphocytes and CD8+ T cells (93.3% of lymphocytes), and a decrease of the CD4/8 ratio of the T cell subset (0.04). Histopathological analysis of trans-bronchial lung biopsy specimens showed infiltration of lymphocytes into the alveolar septa and exudation of alveolar macrophages, signs characteristic of interstitial pneumonia. A drug lymphocyte stimulation test was positive for temocapril, but negative for other drugs. On the basis of these findings, we diagnosed temocapril hydrochloride-induced interstitial pneumonia.

Determinants of bronchodilator responsiveness in patients with controlled asthma.

Short-term bronchodilator responsiveness to an inhaled ss 2 adrenergic agonist was assessed by changes in forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV(1)) in nonsmoking adults with controlled asthma (mild disease, 20 patients; moderate disease, 20 patients; severe disease, 18 patients). Responsiveness correlated significantly with age and with percent of predicted FEV(1) (%FEV(1)) except in patients with severe asthma, who showed significantly less responsiveness than others. Thus, responsiveness is closely associated with degree of airflow limitation in patients with controlled asthma and is significantly influenced by severity of disease and by aging.