Second primary lung cancer after a first breast cancer : a case report and critical literature review

A rare case was presented of a 56-year-old postmenopausal female with synchronous bilateral pulmonary nodules 1 year after modified radical mastectomy and radiotherapy for breast cancer. The patient was empirically misdiagnosed as recurrence of breast cancer and was given improper medication initially. Because the first cycle chemotherapy using docetaxel and pirarubicin resulted in disease progression, simultaneous biopsy of the bilateral pulmonary nodules was performed, and the pathological evidence revealed the correct diagnosis of metachronous primary pulmonary adenocarcinoma. It shows that second primary cancer of different types should be kept in mind during the differential diagnosis of newly emerged lesions in patients with a first cancer history. Herein, this special case and related literatures are presented for discussion.