Osteoblastic flare effect during targeted therapy in lung adenocarcinoma

Introduction: Incidence of osteoblastic bone flare effect during treatment of advanced lung cancer is rare. There were reported cases of this phenomenon after targeted therapy in metastatic non-small cell lung cancer. Case: The authors present a case of 55-year old patient with lung adenocarcinoma, where osteoblastic flare effect was observed after the first line treatment of chemotherapy plus bevacizumab. At progression of the disease genetic testing from biopsy of metastasis was performed and revealed EGFR mutation. Erlotinib was successfully introduced in the second line treatment, the second osteoblastic flare effect was observed. Conclusion: Knowledge of possible incidence of osteoblastic flare phenomenon during targeted therapy in advanced non-small cell lung cancer is important for correct evaluation of bone metastases development on scans and for proper decision not to stop this effective treatment prematurely. (author)