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Updated: May 27, 2026

Tracking Tumor Cell Dissemination from Lung Metastases Using Photoconversion
Published on: July 7, 2023
[Atypical metastatic site of lung adenocarcinoma]
L Sakhri1, B Mennecier, D Jacqmin
1Service de pneumologie, nouvel hôpital Civil, Strasbourg, France.
Abstract:
The case concerns a 40 years old smoker male, treated for an adenocarcinoma of the left upper lobe, metastatic in muscle extended to the right femur cortex. The patient had first a surgical excision of the mass of the thigh, an intramedullary femoral nailing, and six courses of chemotherapy (cisplatin-vinorelbine) with concurrent thoracic radiotherapy. This treatment led to disease stability. One year later, hematuria revealed a bladder tumor. Cystoscopy with biopsy concluded to an adenocarcinoma pulmonary origin. The PET-scanner showed an uptake of the bladder mass, a hypermetabolic right adrenal gland and subcutaneous left shoulder nodule. The patient had a partial cystectomy associated with enterocystoplasty and left ureteral reimplantation, plus excision of the subcutaneous nodule located in the left shoulder and a right adrenalectomy during the same time. All of the sites were metastasis from adenocarcinoma of pulmonary origin. A salvage chemotherapy was initiated. In the vast majority of cases, bladder metastasis as primary bladder tumours is revealed by hematuria, cystitis or sometimes vague pelvic pain. Our case is a very unusual bladder metastatic site from lung cancer. We will discuss the different procedures and the therapeutic strategies on the basis of the published data.
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