Successful treatment of bronchorrhea with gefitinib in a patient with bronchioloalveolar cell lung carcinoma

Abstract

Bronchorrhea is defined as production of more than 100 mL watery sputum per day. Although found in several diseases and disorders, it is classically described in bronchioloalveolar cell lung carcinoma. It hampers the quality of life of the patient with lung cancer. Several treatment options are available for relief of this distressing symptom; however, none of them are effective in all cases. We herein report a case of a female with bronchioloalveolar cell lung carcinoma who presented with bronchorrhea. She showed dramatic symptomatic improvement with therapy with gefitinib.

Keywords

• Bronchorrhea
• bronchioloalveolar cell carcinoma
• gefitinib