Lung Cancer
Volume 57, Issue 3 , Pages 410-413, September 2007

Malignant mesothelioma following thoracic radiotherapy for lung cancer

  • Sabrina M. Witherby

      Affiliations

    • Department of Medicine, University of Vermont College of Medicine, Vermont Cancer Center, 89 Beaumont Avenue, Given E-214, Burlington, VT 05405, USA
    • ,
  • Kelly J. Butnor

      Affiliations

    • Department of Pathology, University of Vermont College of Medicine, Vermont Cancer Center, Burlington, Vermont, USA
    • ,
  • Steven M. Grunberg

      Affiliations

    • Department of Medicine, University of Vermont College of Medicine, Vermont Cancer Center, 89 Beaumont Avenue, Given E-214, Burlington, VT 05405, USA
    • Corresponding Author InformationCorresponding author. Tel.: +1 802 847 5971; fax: +1 802 847 5946.

Received 27 December 2006; received in revised form 17 March 2007; accepted 21 March 2007.

Summary 

As the number of long-term cancer survivors increases, secondary malignancies are becoming a greater clinical issue. Although some of these malignancies may be related to common environmental exposures, a significant number are considered to be therapy-related. Pleural malignant mesothelioma is a neoplasm that may be related to asbestos exposure or radiation exposure. Previous reports of pleural mesothelioma as a second malignancy have tended to follow radiotherapy for extra-thoracic malignancies such as Hodgkin's disease, breast cancer and Wilms’ tumor. We report the case of a 66-year-old woman with no prior asbestos exposure who developed pleural mesothelioma 17 years after pneumonectomy and adjuvant radiation therapy for non-small cell lung cancer. Opacification of the lung field from prior therapy made determination of the diagnosis more challenging. Secondary malignancies such as mesothelioma should be considered in patients who develop unexplained symptoms even long after treatment of a primary tumor.

Keywords: Malignant mesothelioma, Irradiation, Pleural mesothelioma, Lung cancer, Secondary malignancy

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PII: S0169-5002(07)00189-4

doi:10.1016/j.lungcan.2007.03.016

Lung Cancer
Volume 57, Issue 3 , Pages 410-413, September 2007

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