Metastatic Lung Cancer Metastasis to Pericardium, Pleura, and Soft Tissue: A Multi-Specialty Conundrum
Author(s): Fahad Athar, Louis Samuels
Lung cancer is a common type of malignancy and has the highest mortality rate among all cancer-related deaths. Metastasis
from primary lung cancer can occur to almost any organ, but the most common sites for metastasis include brain, liver, adrenal
glands and bones. Metastasis to soft tissues is uncommon and has been rarely reported. In this case report, we describe an
unusual presentation of lung cancer in a patient who presented with shortness of breath. He was found to have large pericardial
and pleural effusions. An incidental finding of a firm, right-sided, painless subcostal mass was observed. The pericardial fluid
showed was found to contain malignant cells and the soft tissue mass was positive for adenocarcinoma of lung origin. A multispecialty
approach to the diagnosis and treatment included internal medicine, cardiology, hematology-oncology, cardiothoracic
surgery, interventional radiology, and palliative medicine. Treatment included surgical drainage of the pleural and pericardial
effusions as well as resection of the chest wall lesion.
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