Frequency, symptoms and outcome of intestinal metastases of bronchopulmonary cancer. Case report and review of the literature

BACKGROUND: We report a new case of small bowel metastases from primary lung cancer. Such metastases are not exceptional, but their clinical manifestations are rare. CASE PRESENTATION: The case involved a 56-year-old man with a squamous cell carcinoma of the lung (stage IV) that had been treated with chemotherapy. He presented fourteen months after diagnosis with an acute abdominal pain. Abdominal CT-scan demonstrated a perforated jejunum and he underwent emergency surgery. Postoperative pathologic analysis confirmed the diagnosis of metastatic pulmonary carcinoma. The patient was discharged after ten days, but died 8 weeks after surgery at home on tumor progression. CONCLUSION: We were able to find 58 documented similar cases in the literature. Most cases presented with bowel perforation or obstruction. Squamous cell carcinoma was the most common histological cell type followed by large cell carcinoma. Other metastases are often present, and the prognosis is mostly fatal at short term.