Case 17: lung, mets, MM Flashcards
Lung cancer risk factors
- Smoking even passive, this risk is proportional to pack years
- Age: 60-70, male
- Radiation exposure
- Chemicals: asbestos, acetaldehyde, beryllium, arsenic, nickle, chromium, formaldehyde
- Air pollution
- Family history
- HIV
- Beta carotene supplements in heavy smokers
Lung cancer symptoms
- Shortness of breath
- Cough
- Haemoptysis(coughing up blood)
- Finger clubbing
- Wheeze or stridor
- Recurrent pneumonia
- Weight loss, malaise and lethargy
- Hoarseness (invasion of recurrent laryngeal nerve) and dysphagia (compression)
- Lymphadenopathy - supraclavicular then axillary
Lung cancer examination
- Reduced expansion on affected side
- Diminished breath sounds
- hepatomegaly
- Clubbing: in NSCLC
- Hands: nicotine staining, clubbing
- Neck: lymphadenopathy
- Chest: signs of pulmonary collapse, pleural effusion or consolidation
- Superior vena caval obstruction
Paraneoplastic syndrome
- Hypercalcaemia: Often due to production of parathyroid hormone-related peptide (PTHrP).
- Cushing’s syndrome: Due to ectopic adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) production.
- SIADH (Syndrome of Inappropriate Antidiuretic Hormone secretion): Leading tohyponatraemia
- Lambert-Eaton myasthenic syndrome (LEMS): A neuromuscular disorder caused by antibodies directed against voltage-gated calcium channels in the presynaptic nerve terminals. Muscles weakness, bilateral ptosis and autonomic symptoms
- Clubbing
Paraneoplastic syndrome in NSCLC
Hypertrophic pulmonary osteoarthropathy - presents with clubbing and arthralgia (esp wrists and ankles)
What lymph nodes may be affected by lung cancer
- Initially: ipsilateral peribronchial, ipsilateral hilar nodes
- Later: mediastinal nodes, contralateral hilar nodes, supraclavicular nodes
Pancoasts tumour
- Cancer in the top of the lung - usually non small cell
- Chest wall pain
- Horner’s syndrome: miosis, anhydrosis, partial ptosis and enophthalmos
- Pain in T1 dermatomal distribution due to apical tumour invading chest wall, interrupting sympathetic chain and invading T1 nerve root
Lung cancer investigations (not imaging)
bedside: full set of obs, sputum culture, pulmonary function tests (spirometry)
bloods:
- FBC to look for anaemia and raised platelets
- U+Es
- LFTs to look for liver mets
- LDH may be raised in SCLC
- calcium may be raised in squamous NSCLC
Lung cancer imaging
- CXR
- contrast enhanced CT chest abdo pelvis for staging
- PET CT for metastases
- bronchoscopy with endobronchial ultrasound- take biopsy
- Transthoracic biopsy (CT guided)
- Fine Needle aspiration (FNA) of affected lymph node
- Fluid cytology from a pleural effusion if present
- Plain bone x-ray and bone scans to exclude metastasis
Lung cancer special tests
- sputum and pleural effusion cytology
- biopsy via bronchoscopy, needle or surgery
- lung function tests
Imaging in different types of lung cancer
- SCLC: imaging of upper abdomen as cancer can spread to the liver and adrenal glands
- NSCLC considered for radical treatment: Pulmonary function tests, Contrast CT TAP, V/Q scan, US, mediastinoscopy, laryngoscopy, PET-CT
Molecular features of lung cancer
- Adenocarcinomas can have specific mutations in: EGFR, MAPK and PI3K signalling pathways. Can determine treatment
- Adenocarcinomas: EGFR and ALK mutations develop in non-smokers, KRAS and BRAF mutations are more associated with smokers
- NSCLC: Translocation of ALK and EML4
Lung cancer: features associated with adverse features
- Large tumor size (>3 cm)
- Nonsquamous histology
- Metastases to multiple lymph nodes
- Brain metastasis
- Age
- Vascular invasion
- Poor performance status and weight loss >10%
- Increased LDH
Management of lung cancer
- conservative:- smoking cessation
- medical:- radiotherapy for stages 1-3- chemotherapy as adjunct to surgery/ radiotherapy
- surgical:- lobectomy (1st line for stages 1-2)
- Advanced disease: Systemic therapy with tyrosine kinase inhibitors or immunotherapy
Extrapulmonary manifestations of lung cancer
- Small cell lung cancer: can cause paraneoplastic syndrome
- RLN palsy: hoarse voice due to a tumour pressing on the nerve
- Phrenic nerve palsy: diaphragm weakness causing SOB
- Horner’s syndromeis a triad of partial ptosis, anhidrosis and miosis. It can be caused by aPancoast tumour(tumour in thepulmonary apex) pressing on thesympathetic ganglion.
- Syndrome of inappropriate ADH(SIADH) can be caused byectopic ADHsecreted by asmall cell lung cancer. It presents withhyponatraemia.
- Cushing’s syndromecan be caused byectopic ACTHsecretion by asmall cell lung cancer.
- Hypercalcaemiacan be caused byectopic parathyroid hormonesecreted by asquamous cell carcinoma.
Lung cancer: compressive and obstructive symptoms
- Compressive symptoms: dysphagia due to oesophageal compression. Hoarseness due to recurrent laryngeal nerve compression
- Local invasion: pleural effusion, SVC obstruction
- SVC obstruction: bulging veins on forehead, papilloedema, Pemberton sign
- Pemberton’s sign: worsening of SOB/ facial congestion/cyanosis when raising arms until they touchside of face (seen in SVC obstruction)
- Metastatic: liver, bone, brain, adrenal gland
Lambert-Eaton Myasthenic syndrome
- Caused by antibodies produced by the immune system against small cell lung cancer cells
- Causes weakness in proximal muscles, diplopia, ptosis, slurred speech and dysphagia
- Autonomic dysfunction: dry mouth, blurred visi
Referral criteria for lung cancer (2 week wait): patients over 40 with
- Clubbing
- Lymphadenopathy(supraclavicularor persistent abnormal cervical nodes)
- Recurrent or persistent chest infections
- Raised platelet count (thrombocytosis)
- Chest signs of lung cancer
- Consider a CXR in patients >40 who have two or more unexplained symptoms in patients that have never smoked or one or more unexplained symptoms in patient that have smoked
- Unexplained symptoms: cough, SOB, fatigue, chest pain, weight loss, loss of appetitie
Investigations for lung cancer
- CXR: first line, show hilar enlargement, peripheral opacity, pleural effusion and collapse
- Staging CT of chest, abdomen and pelvis: assesses stage, lymph node involvement and metastasis
- PET-CT
- Bronchoscopy with endobronchial ultrasound (EBUS): detailed assessment of tumour and US guided biopsy
- Histological diagnosis: either bronchoscopy or percutaneous biopsy
Treatment options: NSLC
- MDT meeting discussion
- Surgery: first line in stages 1,2 and 3A, followed by adjuvant chemo. Remove primary tumour and regional lymph nodes
- Radiotherapy: Stages I-III not suitable for surgery aiming for cure. Use high dose CHART or cure.
- Chemotherapy: in addition to surgery or radiotherapy (adjuvant chemotherapy). Used in stage III-IV (palliative). Uses either carboplatin or cisplatin with gemcitabine or vinorelbine
- Endobronchial treatment with stents and debulking: palliative in bronchial obstruction
- Brain metastasis: steroids
- SVC obstruction: stent insertion or radiotherapy