title: Re-administration of gefitinib following diffuse interstitial lung disease in a patient with advanced lung adenocarcinoma: A case report and review of the literature.
abstract: Interstitial lung disease (ILD) is a severe adverse effect of gefitinib treatment. Re-administration of gefitinib to patients suspected of suffering from gefitinib-induced ILD requires cautious consideration. In the majority of cases, gefitinib is not re-administered to such patients. The present study reports a case of advanced lung adenocarcinoma, where the patient developed gefitinib-induced ILD and gefitinib was re-administered at 3.5 months after discontinuation of gefitinib treatment. Initially, the patient achieved partial clinical remission, but developed diffuse ILD following gefitinib administration for 5 months. Following the onset of ILD, gefitinib was discontinued immediately and low-dose corticosteroids were administered at the early stages of ILD. Subsequent to recovery from the lung injury, gefitinib was re-administered along with N-acetylcysteine. The patient presented with good lung adenocarcinoma control and did not experience a recurrence of ILD for >16 months. Thus, early discontinuation and gefitinib re-administration with N-acetylcysteine may be a potential novel treatment strategy for gefitinib-induced ILD.
authors.affiliation: Beijing Institute of Respiratory Medicine, Beijing Key Laboratory of Respiratory and Pulmonary Circulation Disorders, Beijing Chao-Yang Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing 100020, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Xueli
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Beijing Institute of Respiratory Medicine, Beijing Key Laboratory of Respiratory and Pulmonary Circulation Disorders, Beijing Chao-Yang Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing 100020, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Huiqiao
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Beijing Institute of Respiratory Medicine, Beijing Key Laboratory of Respiratory and Pulmonary Circulation Disorders, Beijing Chao-Yang Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing 100020, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Min
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.affiliation: Beijing Institute of Respiratory Medicine, Beijing Key Laboratory of Respiratory and Pulmonary Circulation Disorders, Beijing Chao-Yang Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing 100020, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Yuhui
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhang
keywords: adenocarcinoma; gefitinib; interstitial lung disease