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Vol.49 No.7 contents | Japanese/English |
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- Case Report -
An Autopsy Case of Metastasis to the Metacarpal Bone from Lung Cancer
Tadashi Takao1, Takao Hanehira1, Yoshitaka Zenke1, Jun Shikama1, Hiroshi Igei1, Eri Inoue11Department of Respiratory Medicine, Itabashi Chuo Medical Center, Japan
Background. Primary lung cancer rarely metastasizes to the finger bones. Case. A 79-year-old man presented with exertional dyspnea. A mass was present in the right lower lung field radiograph. Transbronchial lung biopsy yielded a diagnosis of squamous cell carcinoma of the lung (cT4N2M0, stage IIIB). Pain and swelling of the dorsal region of the right hand developed during the 4th cycle of chemotherapy with carboplatin and gemcitabine. Osteolytic destruction of the 3rd metacarpal bone was noted on plain X-ray radiography, abnormal uptake was detected only in the corresponding region on bone scintigraphy, and a tumor showing both low and high intensities was detected on T1- and T2-weighted MRI images, respectively, with the bone lesion being identified as squamous cell carcinoma on biopsy. The primary lung lesion and right metacarpal metastatic lesion grew, and liver and brain metastases appeared. Chemotherapy with vinorelbine and paclitaxel and gamma knife treatment for brain metastasis were performed, but the patient died from deterioration of the systemic condition. On autopsy, the primary lung lesion was well- to moderately-differentiated squamous cell carcinoma, and similar pathological findings were noted in the metacarpal bone and brain metastatic lesion. Conclusion. We encountered a rare case of primary lung cancer in which solitary metastasis to the right 3rd metacarpal bone occurred during treatment.
key words: Lung cancer, Metastasis to the metacarpal bone, Autopsy
Received: May 18, 2009
Accepted: August 5, 2009
JJLC 49 (7): 1049-1054, 2009
