A commentary on interstitial pneumonitis induced by docetaxel: clinical cases and systematic review of the literature.

Background: Pulmonary toxicity is a well-known complication observed with several anticancer drugs. Docetaxel, a taxane chemotherapy drug widely used in the treatment of many types of solid tumors including non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), rarely causes infiltrative pneumonitis. The exact mechanism by which docetaxel develops this side effect is not well understood; probably it is produced by type I and IV hypersensitivity responses.