Acute respiratory failure caused by vinorelbine tartrate in a patient with non-small cell lung cancer.

We describe a case of vinorelbine tartrate (VNR) associated acute respiratory failure. A 65-year-old man with non-small cell lung cancer developed acute respiratory failure 50 minutes after his first infusion with VNR in combination with mitomycin-C. The patient was treated with furosemide, dopamine and high-dose methylprednisolone, and recovered with no discernible sequelae. Although clinical trials have shown that respiratory symptoms associated with VNR treatment have only rarely been observed and the putative mechanism remains to be elucidated, patients receiving VNR should be monitored carefully, particularly in the first few hours after intravenous administration.