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CASE REPORT article
Front. Oncol.
Sec. Thoracic Oncology
Volume 15 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fonc.2025.1572425
Case Report: Severe brigatinib-induced pneumonitis in a patient with EML4-ALK+ metastatic non-small cell lung adenocarcinoma
Provisionally accepted- 1 Northwestern University, Department of Medicine, Chicago, IL, United States
- 2 Division of Hematology, Oncology, and Cellular Therapy, Tampa General Hospital Cancer Institute/CCSF, Tampa, FL, United States
- 3 Northwestern University, Department of Medicine, Division of Medical Oncology, Chicago, IL, United States
Anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs), such as brigatinib, are targeted therapies for metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (mNSCLC). We present a patient with echinoderm microtubule-associated protein-like 4 (EML4) and ALK fusion protein positive mNSCLC who developed severe hypoxemia and pneumonitis requiring intubation within two days of initiating brigatinib therapy. Workup for alternative etiologies of respiratory distress were unrevealing and the patient was treated for presumed brigatinib-induced pneumonitis with high dose methylprednisolone. This case demonstrates high grade, rapidly progressive brigatinib-induced pneumonitis with prompt clinical improvement after steroids and marked disease response without recurring toxicity after treatment with an alternative ALK TKI, alectinib.
Keywords: NSCLC1, pneumonitis2, tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI)3, steroids4, case report4
Received: 07 Feb 2025; Accepted: 28 Mar 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Dasika, Melody and Patel. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Khyati Somayaji Dasika, Northwestern University, Department of Medicine, Chicago, IL, United States
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