Spinal leptomeningeal metastasis in a patient with squamous cell lung cancer.

Spinal leptomeningeal metastasis occurs rarely in solid tumors, and the prognosis is extremely poor. Adenocarcinomas and small-cell carcinomas are the most common histological type detected among lung tumors. A 58-year-old man with a history of squamous-cell lung carcinoma with mediastinal invasion and brain metastasis was examined because of his low back pain and weakness in both lower limbs. Spinal MRI revealed subpial enhancement in the spinal cord; and innumerable nodules with thickening of the cauda equina fibres. To our knowledge, this is the second reported case of squamous cell lung cancer with spinal leptomeningeal metastasis.