A Case of Severe Drug-Induced Interstitial Pneumonia Caused by Uracil/Tegaful (UFT)

Background. Anti-cancer agents often induce interstitial pneumonia, while interstitial pneumonia induced by uracil /tegafur (UFT) is very rare. We describe here a case of acute interstitial lung disease/diffuse alveolar damage due to UFT. Case. A 72-year-old man with squamous cell carcinoma of the lung underwent right lower lobectomy. We initiated UFT (300 mg/day) from day 33 after the operation. He complained of exertional dyspnea and progressive dry cough at 14 days after initiation of UFT. Four days later, he was urgently hospitalized because of progressive dyspnea, high fever and ground-glass opacity on his chest radiograph. He received mechanical ventilation and drug therapy including a steroid hormone. Without any improvement, however, he died at 48 days after rehospitalization. Drug-induced interstitial pneumonia caused by UFT was diagnosed, because only UFT was positive by drug lymphocyte stimulation test. Conclusion. Although adverse reactions to UFT are thought to be rare, we must observe patient carefully while administering it.