Enlightenment for Clinicians From the Case of Digestive Tract Metastases From Primary Lung Cancer: a Case Report

Background: About 50% of patients with initially diagnosed lung cancer have developed distant metastasis. The probability of occurrence of digestive tract metastases found by autopsy is rarely. This report presents a rare clinical case of small intestinal metastasis from primary squamous cell carcinoma of the lung. Case presentation: An 82-year-old male with aggravated cough and more acute shortness of breath than usual was diagnosed with primary squamous cell carcinoma of the lung Stage IV, because of the advanced age, underlying diseases, and poor cardiopulmonary function,the family refused the chemoradiotherapy.One month later, the patient gradually developed right lower quadrant pain. An upright abdominal X-ray suggested small intestinal obstruction and partial resection and anastomosis of the small intestine were performed. Postoperative pathology revealed poorly differentiated squamous-cell carcinoma of the small intestine. The patient died of sudden cardio-respiratory arrest one month later. Conclusions: We conclude that the real incidence of digestive tract metastases from lung cancer may be higher than the reported because of the symptoms of those patients are not obvious. Clinicians should select the appropriate examination methods (such as positron emission tomography) and pay attention to the assessment of abdominal hollow organs.