Interstitial Lung Disease Arising From Erlotinib Treatment in a Caucasian Patient

Nonesmall-cell lung cancer patients with activating epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutations have better response and survival when they are treated with EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKI). The most common adverse events associated with EGFR TKI therapy are rash and diarrhea. Interstitial lung disease (ILD) is also a possibility. ILD, although less common, can be severe. We describe a patient treated at our center with erlotinib. The patient was diagnosed with ILD 1 month after treatment initiation. Given the known benefits of treatment with EGFR TKI in EGFRmutated patients, as well as the wishes of our patient, erlotinib was reintroduced along with corticosteroids. To date, there are only 10 cases reported with reintroduction of EGFR TKI therapy after ILD. We report a case of retreatment with erlotinib after ILD both alone and with chemotherapy.