Cytoxan Use in Interstitial Lung Disease

Cytoxan, a medication known generically as cyclophosphamide, has many treatment uses. One use is for the treatment of interstitial lung disease, in spite of Cytoxan's potential for adverse side effects that are similar to the lung condition itself.

• Cytoxan Drug

Cytoxic Drugs

• According to the Mayo Clinic, two cytoxic-type drugs--cyclophosphamide (Brand name Cytoxan) and azathioprine (Imuran)--can be used to treat interstitial lung disease, but they both have serious side effects (reduced red blood cell production, increased cancer and infection risk). These medications can be administered via pill, injection or intravenously. In addition to being powerful, they work over a long period of time, according to the University of Washington's School of Medicine.

Cytoxan (Cyclophosphamide)

• The generic name for Cytoxan is cyclophosphamide. Cytoxan is used in the treatment of many conditions in addition to interstitial lung disease (including various forms of arthritis). But according to the Mayo Clinic, it is not the first drug of choice for interstitial lung disease. Azathioprine is. This is because Cytoxan has more severe side effects (hallucinations, seizures, chest pains, breathing difficulty and pneumonia) than azathioprine (Imuran). Therefore, azathioprine is generally attempted first.

Interstitial Lung Disease (ILD)

• Interstitial lung disease is actually more than one disorder; it is a group of disorders. It can develop over time, or suddenly, with symptoms (dry cough, breathlessness) sometimes not being recognized as due to ILD until irreversible lung damage has already occurred.

  It can have many causes; however, the cause is not always known in each situation. Some causes include medication use, exposure to toxins in the environment or on the job, radiation, other medical conditions or an infection. Regardless of the cause, though, the condition ultimately affects an individuals' ability to breathe and it leads to permanent scarring of the lung tissue.

Cytoxan and Interstitial Lung Disease

• Interstitial lung disease is not curable. It can be life-threatening when breathing becomes so problematic (and no other treatment has successfully managed it) that the only treatment option left to try is a lung transplant.

  But while using Cytoxan has recognized severe side effects (so much so it is considered as a second option to azathioprine), the side effects sometimes pale in comparison to the need to try it to address the breathing difficulties experienced by the patient and to avoid the need for a lung transplant.

Warning

• In addition to the other serious side effects of Cytoxan, combining it with other treatment drugs (or radiation or oxygen therapy) when treating the condition of interstitial lung disease can increase pulmonary toxicity brought on by Cytoxan use, according to Drugs.com. In addition, high doses of Cytoxan have resulted in 1 percent of patients experiencing interstitial pulmonary fibrosis and pneumonitis (conditions also related to the interstitial lung disease group).