Duodenal Metastasis of a Pulmonary Adenocarcinoma: Report of a Case and Review of the Literature

Abstract

Symptomatic gastrointestinal metastases from lung cancer were considered quite rare given their low incidence, especially the duodenal location. In this article, we report a clinical case of a patient followed for a pulmonary adenocarcinoma revealed by a duodenal metastasis. The patient was a 63-year-old female. She was admitted to the oncology department of the Ibn Rochd University Hospital for a low digestive hemorrhage ‘’Melena’’ complicated by acute anemia. Duodenal metastasis from a primary adenocarcinoma of the lung was diagnosed following histopathological examination supplemented by immunohistochemical analysis of biopsies of the duodenal mass taken under gastrointestinal fibroscopy. Post-mortem studies have confirmed that large cell lung carcinoma is significantly associated with gastrointestinal metastases with an incidence ranging from 30% to 75.9%. For this reason, physicians should consider secondary gastrointestinal locations if patients with lung cancer exhibit digestive symptoms and not relate this symptom to side effects of chemotherapy.