Organizing Pneumonia Associated with Oxaliplatin-Combined Chemotherapy: A Case Report

Abstract

Objective: To report a case of oxaliplatin-combined chemotherapy-induced interstitial lung disease. Clinical Presentation and Intervention: A 57-year-old man was referred complaining of dyspnea and fever after treatment with an oxaliplatin-combined chemotherapeutic agent for metastatic colorectal cancer. Fever development and spontaneous subsidence were observed during the chemotherapeutic course repeatedly until the 9th cycle. A computer-tomographic (CT) scan revealed bilateral, peripherally distributed, patchy consolidation suggestive of an interstitial lung disease. As a confirmative step, video-assisted thoracoscopic surgical biopsy was attempted; the characteristic intraluminal organizing fibrous plug in the bronchioles and alveoli was seen. Corticosteroid therapy was administered, which rapidly improved the patient's symptoms and chest CT findings. Conclusion: This case showed that oxaliplatin may be implicated in the etiology of interstitial lung disease, since withdrawal of the drug resulted in improvement of interstitial lung disease. Copyright (C) 2011 S. Karger AG, Basel