Tuberc Respir Dis.  2010 Dec;69(6):465-468.

Erlotinib-Related Spontaneous Pneumothorax in Patient with Primary Lung Cancer

Affiliations
  • 1Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, Inha University Hospital, Inha University School of Medicine, Incheon, Korea. jsryu@inha.ac.kr

Abstract

Spontaneous pneumothorax (SPTx) associated with primary lung cancer is quite rare, but has been reported as the initial presentation or a complication of disease progression. Moreover, chemotherapy-related SPTx in primary lung cancer occurs at a very low frequency, accounting for less than 0.05% of all cases. Here, we report the first case of erlotinib-related SPTx in a patient with advanced lung adenocarcinoma in Korea. After 3 cycles of cisplatin-based chemotherapy as first-line therapy, erlotinib was administered as second-line treatment. Asymptomatic SPTx accompanied by a significant decrease in tumor size was observed in the left lung 7 weeks later. The patient received continuous administration of erlotinib, without additional treatment. This case showed that SPTx can occur in patients with primary lung cancer receiving erlotinib, and asymptomatic chemotherapy-related SPTx in primary lung cancer may not require therapeutic intervention.

Keyword

Pneumothorax; Lung neoplasm; erlotinib

MeSH Terms

Accounting
Adenocarcinoma
Disease Progression
Humans
Korea
Lung
Lung Neoplasms
Pneumothorax
Quinazolines
Erlotinib Hydrochloride
Adenocarcinoma
Lung Neoplasms
Quinazolines

Figure

  • Figure 1 Chest X-ray and computed tomography were performed before treatment with erlotinib (A, B). After 7 weeks of erlotinib administration, a spontaneous pneumothorax was first confirmed in the left lung; the consolidations and ground glass opacities in the lung showed marked reductions in size with erlotinib treatment (C, D).

  • Figure 2 Nine weeks after spontaneous pneumothorax, the left pneumothorax showed spontaneous improvement in chest X-ray (A) and computed tomography (B).


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