Anticancer drug treatment for advanced lung cancer with interstitial lung disease

Publication date: Available online 13 April 2018 Source:Respiratory Investigation Author(s): Kohei Otsubo, Isamu Okamoto, Naoki Hamada, Yoichi Nakanishi Interstitial lung disease (ILD) is a risk factor for lung cancer development and is frequently observed in patients with lung cancer. Individuals with ILD have been excluded from most prospective clinical trials of lung cancer therapies because of the risk of ILD acute exacerbation. Thus, the optimal anticancer drug treatment for such patients has yet to be established. Tyrosine kinase inhibitors are avoided for the treatment of advanced non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) with ILD because of the concern of acute exacerbation, and information on the effects of immune-checkpoint inhibitors is limited in these patients. Only three prospective single-arm studies of cytotoxic chemotherapies for advanced lung cancer with ILD have been reported. Based on the results of these studies and those of retrospective analyses, carboplatin and either paclitaxel or nab-paclitaxel are often selected in daily clinical practice for patients with NSCLC and ILD, whereas platinum plus etoposide is selected for those with small cell lung cancer and ILD. Although the antitumor activity of first-line platinum-based chemotherapy appears similar in advanced lung cancer patients with and without ILD, its impact on overall survival of the former patients is limited. The risks and benefits of chemotherapy must therefore be carefully explained befor...
Source: Respiratory Investigation - Category: Respiratory Medicine Source Type: research