Pulmonary lymphangitics from breast cancer

PURPOSE: Pulmonary sarcoidosis (PS) and pulmonary lymphangitic carcinomatosis (PLC) can be complications in tumor patients, and both involve the pulmonary interstitium and have similar imaging findings. Our objective was to distinguish PS and PLC on 18F-FDG PET/CT images. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The authors reviewed 18F-FDG PET/CT data of PS and PLC, diagnosed based on histopathology and imaging, in patients with tumors from July 2015 to January 2023. Three independent readers performed a blinded comparative analysis of 18F-FDG PET/CT signs in all patients...

BACKGROUND: Interstitial lung disease interstitial lung disease is a group of respiratory diseases that causes progressive fibrosis. Many of the recently approved oncology drugs are associated with the development of interstitial lung disease as an adverse event. We report an alpelisib-induced interstitial lung disease in a patient with advanced breast cancer. CASE REPORT: A 65-year-old breast cancer patient who had multiple bone metastases and had been previously treated with letrozole and ribociclib, started alpelisib and fulvestrant combination upon the development of liver metastases...

Pulmonary lymphangitis carcinomatosis (PLC) is a life-threating complication in patients suffering from malignancies. Misleading and nonspecific symptoms often result in a delayed diagnosis. This review was aimed at evaluating epidemiology, clinical manifestations, and survival of patients with PLC reported in the literature. According to our knowledge, this study is the first such extensive analysis of PLC. We searched for the literature in the PubMed database for articles published from 1970 to 2018 using keywords: lung, pulmonary, lymphangitic, carcinoma, carcinomatosis...

BACKGROUND: Metastatic breast cancer (MBC) rest an incurably disease associated with bad prognosis and a median overall survival of 23-31 months. There are several treatment options including chemotherapy and sometimes endocrine therapy. Currently, there is no standard treatment for patients with MBC who have already benefited from anthracyclines and taxanes therapy. Many drugs like capecitabine, eribulin, gemcitabine, vinorelbin and liposomal doxorubicin are conventionally used as monotherapy...

The lymphatic system is an important pathway for tumor dissemination to the lymph nodes, but to which extent it contributes to the formation of distant metastases remains unknown. We report that induction of lymphangiogenesis by vascular endothelial growth factor-C (VEGF-C) at the secondary site, in the lung, facilitates expansion of already disseminated cancer cells throughout the lung tissue. By using orthotopic spontaneous metastasis models in nude mice, we show that VEGF-C expression by tumor cells altered the pattern of pulmonary metastases from nodular to diffuse and facilitated disease progression...

Lipoid pneumonia is a rare disease resulting from the micro-aspiration of lipid formulations. Making a diagnosis of lipoid pneumonia requires a high degree of clinical suspicion. Herein, we report the case of a female patient with a history of breast cancer, presenting progressive dyspnea and cough, together with radiological findings of bilateral pulmonary infiltrate. The working diagnosis of lymphangitic carcinomatosis, for which chemotherapy would be indicated, was called into question based on the high-resolution computed tomography findings and on the fact that the patient had a history of chronic ingestion of laxatives containing mineral oil...

BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVE: Pulmonary lymphangitic carcinomatosis (PLC) is a special type of pulmonary metastasis of carcinoma. It is easy to be misdiagnosed as other pulmonary interstitial diseases. This study was to discuss the clinical features of PLC, and provide experience information for diagnosis, differentiated diagnosis, and evaluation of prognosis of PLC. METHODS: A retrospective comparison analysis was performed on 43 PLC patients with pathologic diagnosis and 46 patients with other pulmonary interstitial diseases with clear etiology in the first affiliated hospital of Sun Yat-sen University within the past decade...

Breast cancer is the second most common cause of cancer-related death in women. In most patients, imaging demonstrates thoracic changes resulting from either treatment, complications of treatment, or tumor recurrence or metastasis. The postsurgical imaging appearance of the chest wall depends on the surgical method used (radical mastectomy, modified radical mastectomy, breast-conserving surgery, breast reconstruction). The most common surgery-related complication is seroma. Radiation therapy frequently causes radiation pneumonitis, which occurs approximately 4-12 weeks after the completion of therapy and is characteristically limited to the field of irradiation...

Lung is the most common site of metastatic involvement for many malignant tumors. The most frequent abnormalities are solitary or multiple pulmonary nodules (large "cannonball" nodules or diffuse miliary pattern), and lymphangitic carcinomatosis. Pulmonary metastases usually occur in a context of a previously known tumour, but sometimes may reveal a latent tumour. Most patients receive palliative treatment with chemotherapy, or hormone therapy (for metastases of breast cancer, thyroid, endometrial carcinoma or prostatic cancer)...

Lung and breast cancer are responsible for the majority of malignant pleural effusions. The diagnosis of a malignant pleural effusion signifies a limited survival for most patients. During their final months, dyspnea is the most common symptom and requires palliation. A decision relating to palliation and the modality of therapy should be based on total assessment of the patient and not a single variable. Local treatment remains the most common and effective palliation. Assessing the response to therapeutic thoracentesis determines the degree of relief of dyspnea and the time-course of recurrence...

We report a rare case of microscopic pulmonary tumor embolism from breast cancer in a young woman with no prior medical history. The patient presented with progressive dyspnea and questionable abnormalities of the left breast and axilla on physical examination. Results of an axillary lymph node biopsy and subsequent radiologic studies raised the possibility of either microscopic pulmonary tumor emboli or lymphangitic spread of cancer as a cause of the dyspnea. The patient died due to advanced breast cancer confirmed at autopsy despite chemotherapy...

Meningeal carcinomatosis may occur in 0.8-8% of patients with solid tumors. The most common tumors associated with that condition are breast and small cell lung cancer. Meningeal carcinomatosis from urothelial cancer is rare, and it appears described in advanced stages of disease, generally, after chemotherapy. Two cases of meningeal carcinomatosis as the first manifestation of bladder cancer were reported. In the first case, a 46-year-old man presented signs and symptoms indicative of involvement of the spinal roots, subsequently neurologic dysfunction of the brain and cranial nerves appeared...

The lungs are among the most prominent target organs for metastatic disease. Most frequently, lung metastases originate from cancers of the head and neck, breast, stomach, pancreas, kidney, bladder, the male and female genitourinary tract, and sarcomas. Plain chest radiography is typically the modality used for detection and therapeutic monitoring; however, the use of CT for these purposes is becoming more frequent. Currently, spiral CT appears to be the most sensitive imaging technique in the identification of metastases, because it detects a higher number of pulmonary nodules compared to other techniques...

OBJECTIVE: Long-term survival after development of pulmonary lymphangitic carcinomatosis is considered unusual. However, modern chemotherapy can result in surprising stability or only gradual progression of lymphangitic carcinomatosis. We evaluated the course of radiographic findings in 10 patients with chronic lymphangitic carcinomatosis. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Ten patients met our criterion of having lymphangitic carcinomatosis for at least 6 months. The primary tumor was a carcinoma of the breast in six cases, the ovary in two, the pancreas in one, and the skin in one...

Oophorectomy is indicated for premenopausal women who have disseminated breast cancer and who are estrogen receptor positive. Adrenalectomy is indicated in women who have advanced disseminated breast cancer and who have hormonally dependent tumors as evidenced by estrogen receptors in the tumor tissue, or by virtue of regression from previous oophorectomy, anti-estrogens, or medical adrenalectomy. Endocrine ablation should be performed early in the course of the disease. For perimenopausal women or for those who are immediately postmenopausal, combined oophorectomy/adrenalectomy are performed...

Although pulmonary lymphangitic carcinomatosis (PLC) is not uncommon for breast, bronchial, and stomach cancers, it is rarely associated with head and neck malignancy. A case of PLC is reported with the primary lesion being an adenosquamous carcinoma of the hypopharynx. A literature review is discussed, highlighting the varied radiographic picture of PLC, the possible diagnostic modalities, the proposed pathogenesis, and the treatment options. The prognosis even if antemortum diagnosis and treatment are given remains fatal, although with temporary improved quality of life and lengthened survival...

The diagnosis of lymphangitic spread of carcinoma in the lungs is sometimes difficult. We studied the cytologic characteristics of blood drawn through a wedged pulmonary-artery catheter from eight patients in whom lymphangitic carcinomatosis was confirmed by subsequent autopsy, lung biopsy, or clinical evaluation. The sites of the primary tumors were the prostate, breast, esophagus, and lung. Malignant cells were found in seven of the eight patients. Cytologic findings were normal in 16 of 17 patients with cancer but without pulmonary metastases and in 22 of 23 patients with nonmalignant pulmonary disorders...

In contrast to pulmonary parenchyma metastases or lymphangitic carcinomatosis, neoplastic emboli of small pulmonary arteries and capillaries frequently go unrecognized and are only discovered at autopsy. Five patients (48 +/- 12 years old) were admitted to 3 intensive care units for severe acute respiratory failure and died between the first and the tenth day following hospitalization. Each patient had a history of rapidly progressive dyspnea, and physical examination showed clinical evidence of right ventricular failure...

BACKGROUND: More than 20 percent of patients with breast cancer have pulmonary lymphangitic spread at death. Previous reports have indicated that some patients may respond to aggressive chemotherapy that includes corticosteroids. METHODS: Bronchoscopy with bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) was used to assess pulmonary infiltrates in 14 patients with infiltrating ductal breast cancer. All patients had received prior cytotoxic or hormonal therapy. Following a diagnosis of pulmonary metastasis by BAL or biopsy specimen, all patients received prednisone and chemotherapy...