Question

Pulmonary toxicity is seen with?

• A. Bleomycin
• B. Cisplatin
• C. Doxorubicin
• D. Actinomycin D

Hint:

Which chemotherapy drug is famous for interstitial pneumonitis and pulmonary fibrosis?

Answer 1

The Correct Option is A

This question maps cytotoxic drugs to their signature end-organ damage. The lung is the target organ for bleomycin, which generates reactive oxygen species and is poorly inactivated in pulmonary tissue because the protective enzyme bleomycin hydrolase is scarce there; the result is interstitial pneumonitis and, with cumulative dosing, irreversible pulmonary fibrosis. Working through the distractors clarifies why they do not fit: cisplatin damages the kidneys and the inner ear (nephrotoxicity and ototoxicity), doxorubicin and the other anthracyclines damage the heart through a free-radical mediated cardiomyopathy, and actinomycin D mainly suppresses the bone marrow and irritates the gut. Therefore, of the four agents listed, only bleomycin is characteristically associated with lung injury.\[\boxed{\text{Bleomycin}}\]