Question:easy
Pulmonary fibrosis is a common complication with
Pulmonary fibrosis is a common complication with
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Bleomycin is poorly broken down in lung tissue, so free radical damage builds up there and causes pulmonary fibrosis; this is its dose limiting toxicity.
Updated On: Jul 8, 2026
- 6 mercaptopurine
- Vincristine
- Bleomycin
- Adriamycin
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The Correct Option is C
Solution and Explanation
Step 1: Match each drug to its best known side effect first.
6 mercaptopurine is remembered for marrow suppression and hepatotoxicity. Vincristine is remembered for nerve damage, especially numbness and tingling in the hands and feet. Adriamycin is remembered for weakening the heart muscle over repeated doses. None of these three point to the lungs.
Step 2: Bring bleomycin into the picture.
Bleomycin breaks double stranded DNA using free radicals, and it is unusual among chemotherapy drugs because it spares the bone marrow to a large extent.
Step 3: Explain why the lung suffers instead.
The enzyme that normally inactivates bleomycin, bleomycin hydrolase, is present at only low levels in lung tissue. Without enough of this enzyme, the drug lingers and its free radicals injure the alveoli, leading step by step to scarring, that is pulmonary fibrosis.
Step 4: Conclude.
Among the four options, the drug with pulmonary fibrosis as a hallmark complication is bleomycin.
\[ \boxed{\text{Bleomycin}} \]
6 mercaptopurine is remembered for marrow suppression and hepatotoxicity. Vincristine is remembered for nerve damage, especially numbness and tingling in the hands and feet. Adriamycin is remembered for weakening the heart muscle over repeated doses. None of these three point to the lungs.
Step 2: Bring bleomycin into the picture.
Bleomycin breaks double stranded DNA using free radicals, and it is unusual among chemotherapy drugs because it spares the bone marrow to a large extent.
Step 3: Explain why the lung suffers instead.
The enzyme that normally inactivates bleomycin, bleomycin hydrolase, is present at only low levels in lung tissue. Without enough of this enzyme, the drug lingers and its free radicals injure the alveoli, leading step by step to scarring, that is pulmonary fibrosis.
Step 4: Conclude.
Among the four options, the drug with pulmonary fibrosis as a hallmark complication is bleomycin.
\[ \boxed{\text{Bleomycin}} \]
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