[Relapse of small cell carcinoma of the lung with metastasis to iris]

We reported a case of small cell carcinoma of the lung with metastasis to the iris during a stage of complete remission obtained with chemotherapy and radiation therapy. The patient was a 55-year-old man hospitalized for hoarseness and abnormal chest radiographs in August 1996. Small cell carcinoma of the lung had been diagnosed, and the stage was limited disease. Treatment consisted of 3 cycles of chemotherapy with cisplatin and etoposide, together with radiation therapy. The patient achieved complete remission and was discharged. In mid-December, he visited an eye clinic with the complaints of blurred vision and congestion in the right eye. Metastatic tumor of the iris was diagnosed. At that time, neither local recurrence of the lung cancer nor metastasis to other organs were observed. The patient was treated with cisplatin and etoposide again, resulting in a reduction of the iris tumor's size. After chemotherapy, the right eye was treated with electron irradiation, and the iris tumor and other clinical signs almost entirely disappeared. The patient retained normal vision during the clinical course.