What is radiation-induced pulmonary fibrosis

What is radiation-induced pulmonary fibrosis? There are many types of pulmonary fibrosis, one of which is a more special case, namely radiation-induced pulmonary fibrosis. Radiation-induced pulmonary fibrosis is not an original lesion of the patient, but an indirect disease caused by exposure to radioactive substances during the treatment of tumors in the lungs and surrounding lungs.

Radiation-induced pulmonary fibrosis is caused by radiation damage to normal lung tissue within the radiation field after radiotherapy for chest tumors such as breast cancer, esophageal cancer, lung cancer and other malignant tumors, resulting in extensive pulmonary fibrosis.

Clinically, there will be irritating dry cough, shortness of breath and chest pain, and sometimes fever. In severe cases, dry cough persists, shortness of breath is obvious, and the condition worsens after activity. The immune function is severely reduced, and respiratory tract infections are prone to occur, and even right heart failure may occur. There is also pneumoconiosis, which is diffuse pulmonary fibrosis caused by inhalation of inorganic dust. Mainly asbestosis. All patients have a history of long-term occupational exposure.

Pulmonary fibrosis is one of the four major types of respiratory diseases. It is caused by multiple causes (such as physical causes such as radiation pneumonitis, silicosis, and photoelectric poisoning, infectious factors such as chronic bronchiolitis and tuberculosis, vascular factors such as primary pulmonary arteriosclerosis and rheumatic arteritis, and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, scleroderma and other factors). It is the final serious pathological condition caused by lung diseases. Its pathological evolution is mostly manifested as initial infiltration of inflammatory cells in the lower respiratory tract, damage to alveolar epithelial cells and vascular endothelial cells, accompanied by proliferation of fibroblasts and type II pneumocytes, release of cytokines, deposition of extracellular matrix proteins and collagen, and ultimately damage to the lung structure.

The etiology of radiation-induced pulmonary fibrosis is complex and the prognosis is extremely poor. There is no effective treatment for pulmonary radiation fibrosis, and the focus is on prevention, that is, while giving high-dose irradiation to the tumor, avoid and reduce irradiation to normal lung tissue as much as possible. There is a lack of effective treatment in clinical practice, and the 5-year survival rate is only 50%.