[A case of interstitial pneumonia during gemcitabine and cisplatin chemotherapy for locally advanced bladder cancer].

A 76-year-old woman received chemotherapy with gemcitabine and cisplatin (GC therapy) for local advanced bladder cancer. She suffered from dyspnea on day 19 during the first course of GC therapy. Both chest X-ray and computed tomography (CT) images revealed diffuse bilateral interstitial infiltrates. She was diagnosed as having drug-induced interstitial pneumonia. We identified gemcitabine as the causative agent based on the results of examinations (CT, X-ray, KL-6 level, drug lymphocyte stimulation test (DLST)). After three months of steroid therapy, her interstitial pneumonia was completely resolved on CT scans. Although gemcitabine-induced interstitial pneumonia is a rare adverse event, it should be considered a severe complication because delayed diagnosis and treatment can lead to a fatal outcome. Thus, early detection of drug-induced interstitial pneumonia is extremely important during GC therapy.