Polymyalgia rheumatica and pulmonary adenocarcinoma: A case report and literature review

Polymyalgia rheumatica is an inflammatory rheumatologic condition that occurs frequently in the elderly. It has been, although infrequently, associated with malignancies, in a synchronous or closely time-related appearance. In such circumstances, polymyalgia rheumatica is considered to be a paraneoplastic syndrome and is often atypical in presentation with poor response to glucocorticoid treatment. We report the case of a 79-year-old woman in which the simultaneous diagnosis of polymyalgia rheumatica and lung adenocarcinoma was made. Rheumatologic symptoms responded partially to anti-inflammatory medication, with further response to lung cancer targeted chemotherapy.