Case Report
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2023. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Clin Cases. Jan 16, 2023; 11(2): 441-448
Published online Jan 16, 2023. doi: 10.12998/wjcc.v11.i2.441
Gefitinib improves severe bronchorrhea and prolongs the survival of a patient with lung invasive mucinous adenocarcinoma: A case report
Guo-Chun Ou, Wen Luo, Wei-Shan Zhang, Shu-Hong Wang, Jie Zhao, Hong-Mei Zhao, Rong Qiu
Guo-Chun Ou, Wen Luo, Shu-Hong Wang, Jie Zhao, Hong-Mei Zhao, Rong Qiu, Department of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, Suining Central Hospital, Suining 629000, Sichuan Province, China
Wei-Shan Zhang, Department of Pathology, Suining Central Hospital, Suining 629000, Sichuan Province, China
Author contributions: All authors have read and approved the manuscript, and significantly contributed to this paper. Ou GC, Luo W, Zhang WS, Wang SH, Zhao J, Zhao HM, and Qiu R contributed to conception and design, literature review, manuscript writing and correction, final approval of manuscript; Ou GC and Luo W contributed equally to this work; All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
Supported by the Science and Technology Research Project of Sichuan Provincial Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine, No. 2021MS164; Scientific research project of Sichuan Medical Association, No. S21012.
Informed consent statement: Written informed consent to publish this information was obtained from the patient.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors declare that they have no competing interests.
CARE Checklist (2016) statement: The authors have read the CARE Checklist (2016), and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the CARE Checklist (2016).
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Rong Qiu, PhD, Doctor, Department of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, Suining Central Hospital, No. 27 Dongping North Road, Hedong New District, Chuanshan District, Suining 629000, Sichuan Province, China. snszxyyqr@126.com
Received: October 9, 2022
Peer-review started: October 9, 2022
First decision: December 13, 2022
Revised: December 21, 2022
Accepted: January 3, 2023
Article in press: January 3, 2023
Published online: January 16, 2023
Processing time: 94 Days and 21.6 Hours
Abstract
BACKGROUND

Lung invasive mucinous adenocarcinoma (LIMA), formerly referred to as mucinous bronchioloalveolar carcinoma, is a rare disease that usually presents as bilateral lung infiltration, is unsuitable for surgery and radiotherapy, and shows poor response to conventional chemotherapy.

CASE SUMMARY

We report a 56-year-old Chinese man with a history of smoking and epidermal growth factor receptor mutation-positivity who was initially misdiagnosed as severe pneumonia, but was ultimately diagnosed as a case of invasive mucinous adenocarcinoma of the lung by computed tomography -guided percutaneous lung biopsy. Bronchorrhea and dyspnea were improved within 24 h after initiation of gefitinib therapy and the radiographic signs of bilateral lung consolidation showed visible improvement within 30 d. After more than 11 months of treatment, there is no evidence of recurrence or severe adverse events.

CONCLUSION

Although the precise mechanism of the antitumor effects of gefitinib are not clear, our experience indicates an important role of the drug in LIMA and provides a reference for the diagnosis and treatment of this disease.

Keywords: Gefitinib; Epidermal growth factor receptor; Lung cancer; Bronchorrhea; Lung invasive mucinous adenocarcinoma; Case report

Core Tip: Gefitinib improves severe bronchorrhea and prolongs the survival of a patient with lung invasive mucinous adenocarcinoma.