Pneumonitis and pulmonary fibrosis in a patient receiving adjuvant docetaxel and cyclophosphamide for stage 3 breast cancer: a case report and literature review

Introduction Pulmonary toxicities associated with chemotherapeutic agents utilized as adjuvant therapy in patients with breast cancer are distinctly uncommon. The chemotherapy regimen of docetaxel/cyclophosphamide has a more favorable therapeutic index compared to anthracycline-based regimens due to a significantly lower incidence of heart failure and leukemia. Consequently, docetaxel/cyclophosphamide is the preferred adjuvant chemotherapy of choice in older women or in women where anthracyclines may be contraindicated. Pulmonary complications in patients with breast cancer receiving taxane-based adjuvant chemotherapy in the absence of radiation are distinctly uncommon. Here, we report the case of a patient receiving adjuvant docetaxel/cyclophosphamide who developed rapid-onset, biopsy-proven interstitial pneumonitis.