In a nutshell
This study looks at how often patients being treated for non-Hodgkin lymphoma develop pneumonitis, a swelling of the lungs. The study concluded that patients being treated with R-CDOP chemotherapy are at the highest risk of developing pneumonitis.
Some background
Pneumonitis is a dangerous and potentially deadly swelling of the lungs and lung tissue. Pneumonitis is a rare side effect of chemotherapy treatment. Some chemotherapy treatments that include doxorubicin and/or rituximab may cause pneumonitis. CHOP (cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, prednisone), R-CHOP (plus rituximab), CDOP (cyclophosphamide, pegylated liposomal doxorubicin, vincristine, prednisone) and R-CDOP (plus rituximab) are some chemotherapies that may lead to pneumonitis.
More research is needed to determine which chemotherapies have the greatest risk of causing pneumonitis.
Methods & findings
The medical records of 207 patients were reviewed. 89 patients received CHOP. 57 patients received R-CHOP. 23 patients received CDOP. 38 patients received R-CDOP.
13 patients developed pneumonitis. No patients in the CHOP group developed pneumonitis. One patient (1.8%) in the R-CHOP group developed pneumonitis. Four patients (17.4%) in the CDOP group developed pneumonitis. Eight patients (21.1%) in the R-CDOP group developed pneumonitis.
Significantly more patients in the CDOP and R-CDOP groups developed pneumonitis compared to patients in the CHOP and R-CHOP groups. Additionally, the pneumonitis was worse on average in the R-CDOP group.
Another risk factor for developing pneumonitis was having a significant shortage of neutrophils (a type of white blood cell), called neutropenia (grade 4).
The bottom line
The authors concluded that patients with non-Hodgkin lymphoma treated with R-CDOP chemotherapy are at a higher risk of developing pneumonitis compared to other chemotherapy treatments, and neutropenia is also a risk factor.
Published By :
Annals of Hematology
Date :
Oct 31, 2017
