Metachronous lung cancer in a patient who cured small cell lung cancer

Abstract

It is known that the risk of developing a second primary respiratory or digestive tract tumor is high in treated small-cell lung cancers. The study aims to present a patient with metachronous small cell and non-small cell lung cancer. Thirteen years ago, a 78-year-old male patient received chemotherapy and radiotherapy due to limited-stage small cell cancer in the right lung. In the 6th year of the follow-up, he underwent right upper lobectomy due to Stage 2B lung epidermoid carcinoma. Over the 7 years after lobectomy, he has been followed without any problem. In small cell lung cancer patients with a survival more than 2 years, the risk of developing second primary non-small cell lung cancer is 7-16 times higher compared to ones who smoke but do not have cancer. Patients should be followed closely, thus a possible metachronous tumor could be detected at early stages. © 2013 Association of Oncology.