Successful treatment of a patient with gastric and duodenal metastases from large cell carcinoma of the lung with carboplatin and gemcitabine.

A 62-year-old man with large cell carcinoma of the lung underwent a right upper lobectomy and four months later demonstrated a relapse in the stomach and duodenum. He received systemic chemotherapy consisting of carboplatin and gemcitabine. After the first cycle of chemotherapy, the duodenal lesion disappeared, however, the gastric lesion demonstrated no response. Considering the risk of bleeding or perforation, a partial gastroduodenal resection was therefore performed. Subsequently, he received adjuvant chemotherapy with the same regimen. He has since been doing well for 24 months after the recurrence. Although the prognosis for patients with gastrointestinal metastases from lung cancer tends to be extremely poor, treatment with chemotherapy and a metastasectomy have resulted in this patient, achieving a long survival.