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Gerald Batist, MD
New England Deaconess Hospital Boston

JAMA. 1980;243(4):331.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text PDF and any section headings.

To the Editor.—

There is continued controversy and concern about the occurrence of pulmonary toxic reaction induced by low-dose bleomycin sulfate, as well as the reversibility of this lesion.

Brown et al (239:2012, 1978) presented a case of symptomatic, radiological, and biopsy-proved interstitial pneumonitis in a patient who received 15 mg of bleomycin sulfate per week. Mitomycin, at a dose and schedule not mentioned, was also administered. Medication withdrawal and steroid therapy reversed the disease.

Subsequently, Orwoll et al¹ described three patients with probable mitomycin-induced pneumonitis. These patients showed complete resolution of symptoms with steroid therapy.

Other reports of low-dose bleomycin toxic reaction were in patients with previous toxic reaction to drug therapy² or remote radiation therapy (235:1253, 1976). Reversible bleomycin lung with distinctly different pathological signs has also been described.³

Although low-dose bleomycin lung toxic reaction undoubtedly does occur,⁴ the case report by Brown et al . . . [Full Text PDF of this Article]

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