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Vol.37 No.2 contents | Japanese/English |
- Case Report -
Squamous Cell Carcinoma of the Lung Presenting as Multiple Intrapulmonary Metastasis with Thin-walled Cavities
Takashi Miyasaka, Ken Ohta, Mikio Nakajima, Kazuto Yamada, Jun-ichi Nakano and Kenji ManoSecond Department of Internal Medicine, Teikyo University, School of Medicine
A 73-year-old man admitted to our hospital for examination of abnormal chest X-ray film pointed out on a regular check up. The chest X-ray film and computed tomographic scan on admission showed a large primary mass in S9 of the right lung, and many intrapulmonary nodules with thin-walled cavities. A transbronchial biopsy specimen revealed low or moderately differentiated squamous cell carcinoma. After three cycles of chemotherapy with cisplatin, mitomycin C and vindesin, most of the shadows of metastasis lesions, and bullous changes were also seen in some those lesions, although the primary mass lesion did not regressed. We suppose that the following three kinds of mechanisms co-exist in the development of the thin-walled cavities of the metastatic lesions in this case. These cavities could have been produced by (1) necrosis of tumor, (2) invasion of cancer to the wall of pre-existing bullae, and (3) bulla formation with a valvular stenosis by tumor nodules through a check valve mechanism.
key words: Squamous cell carcinoma of the lung, Pulmonary metastasis, Multiple thin walled cavities, Check valve mechanism
Received: October 17, 1996
Accepted: January 22, 1997
JJLC 37 (2): 203-208, 1997
