Triple synchronous primary lung cancer: a case report and review of the literature.
Publication/Presentation Date
9-1-2017
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Multiple primary lung cancer may present in synchronous or metachronous form. Synchronous multiple primary lung cancer is defined as multiple lung lesions that develop at the same time, whereas metachronous multiple primary lung cancer describes multiple lung lesions that develop at different times, typically following treatment of the primary lung cancer. Patients with previously treated lung cancer are at risk for developing metachronous lung cancer, but with the success of computed tomography and positron emission tomography, the ability to detect both synchronous and metachronous lung cancer has increased.
CASE PRESENTATION: We present a case of a 63-year-old Hispanic man who came to our hospital for evaluation of chest pain, dry cough, and weight loss. He had recently been diagnosed with adenocarcinoma in the right upper lobe, with a poorly differentiated carcinoma favoring squamous cell cancer based on bronchoalveolar lavage of the right lower lobe for which treatment was started. Later, bronchoscopy incidentally revealed the patient to have an endobronchial lesion that turned out to be mixed small and large cell neuroendocrine lung cancer. Our patient had triple synchronous primary lung cancers that histologically were variant primary cancers.
CONCLUSIONS: Triple synchronous primary lung cancer management continues to be a challenge. Our patient's case suggests that multiple primary lung cancers may still occur at a greater rate than can be detected by high-resolution computed tomography.
Volume
11
Issue
1
First Page
245
Last Page
245
ISSN
1752-1947
Published In/Presented At
Kashif, M., Ayyadurai, P., Thanha, L., & Khaja, M. (2017). Triple synchronous primary lung cancer: a case report and review of the literature. Journal of medical case reports, 11(1), 245. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13256-017-1410-4
Disciplines
Medicine and Health Sciences
PubMedID
28859661
Department(s)
Department of Medicine
Document Type
Article