Abstract
Chemotherapy is the cornerstone of therapy in many stages of lung cancer. Many diagnostic options have to be taken into account when a patient suffering from lung cancer presents with nonspecific, respiratory, clinical manifestations. A multidisciplinary diagnostic approach is then warranted. The top priority is to rule out those life-threatening causes, such as lung infection, that could be properly treated if a right diagnosis is early. To reach a definite diagnosis frequently requires that one or more diagnostic, pneumologic techniques are performed. Regarding to drug-induced pulmonary disease, prevention is mandatory. In this review we have tried to highlight the risk and characteristics of cytostatic-induced pulmonary toxicity caused by those agents that have been commonly employed to treat lung cancer for the last decades. When treating lung cancer patients, a high clinical suspicion of chemotherapy-induced lung toxicity should be kept in mind since an early withdrawal of the offending drug is the most efficacious therapy.
Resumen
La quimioterapia es la opción terapéutica más eficaz en diversos estadios del cáncer de pulmón. El clínico se enfrenta ante un amplio abanico de posibilidades diagnósticas cuando un paciente afecto de cáncer de pulmón presenta manifestaciones clínicas respiratorias inespecíficas. En tal circunstancia es obligada una aproximación diagnóstica multidisciplinaria. La prioridad fundamental es la exclusión de aquellas etiologías susceptibles de un tratamiento eficaz y que representen una amenaza vital para el paciente como es el caso de la infección pulmonar. La confirmación de un diagnóstico etiológico definido va a requeir frecuentemente la adopción de uno o varios procedimientos diagnósticos mediante la práctica de determinadas técnicas neumológicas específicas que deben ser individualizadas en cada caso. En relación a la toxicidad pulmonar inducida por medicamentos, es prioritaria una actitud preventiva. En esta revisión se subrayan los aspectos fundamentales de la toxicidad pulmonar causada por aquellos citostáticos que se han venido utilizando durante las últimas décadas en el tratamiento del cáncer de pulmón. Dado que la retirada precoz del agente causante es la medida terapéutica más eficaz, el oncólogo debe mantener siempre un alto índice de sospecha para la detección de una posible toxcidad pulmonar inducida por la quimioterapia.
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Cutillas, J.R., Rodríguez, E.G. & Viñals, N.B. Chemotherapy-induced pulmonary toxicity in lung cancer management. Rev Oncol 3, 183–195 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02712689
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02712689