NUCLEAR MEDICINE AND BIOLOGY, vol.27, no.6, pp.581-585, 2000 (SCI-Expanded)
The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of one course chemotherapy on the pulmonary epithelial permeability. Eighteen patients (18 male; mean age: 59 +/- 10 years) with lung cancer (11 non-small cell, 7 small cell) inhaled 40 mCi (1,480 MBq) Tc-99m-diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid (DTPA). Thirty images of 1-min duration were acquired from posterior projection. The first 7 min of the decay corrected time activity curves were used to calculate lung clearance half time. Clearance half times of Tc-99m-DTPA from the peripheral regions of the lungs were 42 +/- 19 min before and 56 +/- 34 min after chemotherapy (p = 0.009); from the central regions, clearance half-times were 112 +/- 94 min before and 160 +/- 125 min after chemotherapy (P = 0.005). This decrease in clearance rate might be related to decreasing mucociliary clearance rate due to the toxic effect of the chemotherapy regimen on cilia movement and/or mucus structure. Tc-99m DTPA radioaerosol study can be used to monitor the toxic effects of chemotherapy on the pulmonary epithelium and possibly on mucociliary function. NUCL MED BIOL 27;6:581-585, 2000. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Inc. All rights reserved.