Duodenal Metastasis of Pulmonary Pleomorphic Carcinoma: A Case Report

Abstract

Pulmonary pleomorphic carcinoma is an uncommon malignant lesion of the lung. A chest radiograph of 53-year-old man who was suffering from a cough revealed a well-defined mass-like opacity with a broad base on the pleura at the apico-posterior segment of the right upper lobe of the lung. The subsequent chest computed tomography (CT) scan demonstrated an inhomogeneous enhancing mass with central low-attenuation in the right upper lobe. A lobectomy was performed and the mass was determined to be a pleomorphic carcinoma with visceral pleura invasion. Forty days after the operation, the patient complained of melena and an abdominal CT revealed an intraluminal and extraluminal protruding mass around the prepyloric antrum and duodenal bulb. The mass was removed by en-block surgery and diagnosed as metastatic pleomorphic carcinoma from the lung. Previous articles reported a median survival time of 3–10 months for pleomorphic carcinoma, but in this case, the patient has continued to survive, 11 years after surgery. Chest and abdominal CTs have revealed no evidence of tumor recurrence or metastasis.

Keywords

• lung neoplasms
• duodenal neoplasms
• pleomorphic carcinoma