Massive pleural effusion and associated pulmonary embolism in a case of Gefitinib responsive lung cancer

Abstract

Pulmonary embolism (PE) and venous thrombosis is a common complication in lung cancer patients with a high misdiagnosis rate and high mortality. However, when an undiagnosed lung cancer patient presents as PE, cancer as a cause may not always be explored. We present a case of a young male patient presenting with venous thromboembolism causing massive pleural effusion, leading to the diagnosis of epidermal growth factor receptor mutation positive adenocarcinoma, showing good response to gefitinib therapy.

Keywords

• Gefitinib
• lung cancer
• pleural effusuion
• pulmonary embolism