Korean J Med.  2012 Jan;82(1):85-89.

A 36 Year-Old Primivida Diagnosed with Primary Lung Cancer

• Ko SH
• Kang HH
• Yim SM
• Hwang YM
• Ji EH
• Oh YS
• Lee SH

Abstract

A 36-year-old primivida, at 29 weeks of pregnancy with no smoking history, was admitted to the hospital complaining of cough for 3 days. Chest X-rays revealed atelectasis of the right upper lobe, and a transbronchial lung biopsy confirmed primary lung adenocarcinoma. After consulting with obstetricians and neonatologists, we wanted to deliver the child and treat the mother with chemoradiotherapy. But as she was adamantly opposed to treatment until fetal lung maturation was complete, we planned to delay the birth until 34 weeks, deliver the baby by caesarian section, and then treat the mother. However, maternal hypoxia and fetal distress resulted in an emergency delivery at 30 weeks. After delivery, we treated the mother's brain metastases with radiation therapy and systemic cisplatin-pemetrexed, but she deteriorated and expired 95 days after the diagnosis. Lung cancer during pregnancy is a rare disease and raises many medical and ethical issues in deciding the best course of therapy. We describe our clinical approach and review the potentially challenging features of managing a pregnant patient with lung cancer.

Keyword

Lung cancer; Pregnancy; Chemotherapy

MeSH Terms

Adenocarcinoma
Adult
Anoxia
Biopsy
Brain
Chemoradiotherapy
Child
Cough
Emergencies
Fetal Distress
Humans
Lung
Lung Neoplasms
Mothers
Neoplasm Metastasis
Parturition
Pregnancy
Pulmonary Atelectasis
Rare Diseases
Smoke
Smoking
Thorax
Adenocarcinoma
Lung Neoplasms
Smoke