Obstructive jaundice at the initial presentation in small-cell lung cancer

Case report

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Authors: Nobuaki Ochi, Nagio Takigawa, Masayuki Yasugi, et al

Published Date February 2010 Volume 2010:3 Pages 9 - 12

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.2147/IMCRJ.S8093

Nobuaki Ochi¹, Nagio Takigawa¹, Masayuki Yasugi¹, Etsuji Ishida², Hirofumi Kawamoto², Akihiko Taniguchi¹, Daijiro Harada¹, Eiko Hayashi³, Hiroko Toda³, Hiroyuki Yanai³, Mitsune Tanimoto¹, Katsuyuki Kiura¹

¹Department of Hematology, Oncology and Respiratory Medicine, ²Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, ³Department of Pathology and Oncology, Okayama University Graduate School of Medicine, Dentistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Okayama, Japan

Abstract: Obstructive jaundice sometimes may develop in association with advanced small-cell lung cancer (SCLC); however, SCLC initially presenting with obstructive jaundice is rare. This report presents the cases of two SCLC patients with obstructive jaundice at the initial diagnosis. A 64-year-old male presented with obstructive jaundice due to a tumor at the head of the pancreas. He was diagnosed with SCLC by transbronchial biopsy from a lung tumor in the left upper lobe. Another 74-year-old male was admitted with jaundice due to a tumor in the porta hepatis. He was also diagnosed with SCLC by a fine-needle aspiration biopsy of a lung tumor in the left lower lobe. Both cases were successfully treated with systemic chemotherapy after endoscopic retrograde biliary drainage.

Keywords: small-cell lung carcinoma, jaundice, biliary obstruction, metastasis