 |
Vol.51 No.6 contents | Japanese/English |
 | Full Text of PDF (1543K) Article in Japanese |
- Case Report -
Two Autopsy Cases of Lung Cancer Complicated with Pancreatic Tumors
Satoko Shimadu1, Norio Yoshida1, Ayako Miyazawa1, Yu Okada1, Yoshihiro Suzuki1, Yasushi Matsuyama21Department of Respiratory and Allergy Medicine, 2Department of Gastroenterology, Kariya Toyota General Hospital, Japan
Background. When a pancreatic tumor is found in a patient with lung cancer, it is difficult to determine whether it is double cancer with primary pancreatic cancer or metastasis to the pancreas from the lung. Case 1. A 69-year-old man visited another hospital to have an abnormal shadow on a chest X-ray film examined in October 2008. A chest computed tomographic (CT) scan and bronchoscopic lung biopsy demonstrated pulmonary adenocarcinoma. He was admitted to our hospital for treatment of his lung cancer with chemoradiotherapy from December 2008. In April 2009, positron-emission tomography (PET) with 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) enhancement showed accumulation in a tumor in the pancreatic tail. We gave him gemcitabine and TS-1® because we could not determine whether it was a metastatic pancreatic tumor or primary pancreatic cancer. Obstructive jaundice developed in January 2010 and he died in April 2010. The eventual diagnosis on autopsy was double cancer of the lung and pancreas. Case 2. An 83-year-old man was admitted to our hospital because of an abnormal shadow found on a chest X-ray film in October 2009. A chest CT scan and bronchoscopic lung biopsy showed advanced squamous cell carcinoma. Conservative palliative care was administered. However, May 2010, a second abdominal CT scan showed a nodule in the pancreatic body. At the same time, achalasia due to metastatic mediastinal lymphadenopathy developed, and he died in September 2010. The pancreatic tumor was diagnosed histopathologically as a metastatic pancreatic tumor from lung cancer at autopsy. Conclusion. We encountered 2 autopsy cases of lung cancer, one with a primary pancreatic tumor and one with a metastatic pancreatic tumor. We should consider the possibility of both metastatic and primary tumors when treating patients with lung cancer complicated by a pancreatic tumor.
key words: Lung cancer, Pancreatic cancer, Double cancer, Metastatic pancreatic tumor, Autopsy case
Received: February 18, 2011
Accepted: June 28, 2011
JJLC 51 (6): 701-706, 2011
