Drug-induced lung disease

Last revised by Yuranga Weerakkody on 27 Nov 2023

Drug-induced lung disease can result from a number of agents and may have a myriad of presentations, ranging from an adult respiratory distress syndrome type picture to established pulmonary fibrosis.

Due to this, it can be extremely difficult to pinpoint the offending agent on imaging appearances alone and correlation with the medical history is mandatory. 

Pathology

Etiology
Chemotherapy agents

These can give several patterns of disease which include 1,5:

Example agents include:

Immunosuppressive agents
Immunotherapy agents

Immune checkpoint inhibitor therapy-related pneumonitis / immune-mediated pneumonitis usually happens between 8 to 14 weeks after the start of treatment 13. Examples of agents include:

Monoclonal antibody
Disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs)
Cardiovascular agents
Antibiotic agents

Can also give similar patterns to that of chemotherapeutic agents:

Anti-inflammatory agents
Non-medical drug use
Anticonvulsants
Others

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Cases and figures

  • Case 1: interstitial fibrosis from ABVD chemotherapy
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  • Case 2: amiodarone lung
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  • Case 3: rituximab-induced ILD
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  • Case 4: immunotherapy-induced pneumonitis
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  • Case 5: gemcitabine lung toxicity
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  • Case 6: nab-paclitaxel/gemcitabine
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