Does Chemo Drug Gemzar Is Expected To Have Caused Damage To Lungs ?

Posted on Sat, 16 Jan 2021

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Sat, 16 Jan 2021 Answered on

Thu, 13 Mar 2025 Last reviewed on

Question : during an autopsy if chemo drug gemzar is expected to have caused damage to lungs is there a way to test to see if that or something else caused it. (biopsy) or something.

Answered by Dr. Indranil Ghosh (8 hours later)

Brief Answer:
Biopsy can provide some insights

Detailed Answer:
Hi
Thanks for your query.

Gemzar induced lung damage will show up in lung biopsy as interstitial lung disease. Beyond that there is no way to say for sure that this interstitial lung disease is due to gemzar and nothing else. Based on clinical scenario we may then judge it to be due to gemzar induced.

During autopsy, tissue is sent for histopathology examination. This is equivalent of biopsy which is histopathological examination done while the patient is alive. So autopsy should be able to say if it was possibly due to gemzar or not, but can never pinpoint the diagnosis as other causes of interstitial lung disease are still possible.

Hope this helps.
Regards

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Kampana