A case of malignant pleural mesothelioma with metastasis to the orbit

Our plain-English summary of A case of malignant pleural mesothelioma with metastasis to the orbit, by K. Kubota, K. Furuse, M. Kawahara, et al (Japanese Journal of Clinical Oncology, 1996).

The study

• Authors: K. Kubota, K. Furuse, M. Kawahara, M. Ogawara, S. Ryu, S. Yamamoto
• Journal: Japanese Journal of Clinical Oncology
• Published: 1996;26(6):469-71
• Type of article: Case report
• Cited by: 12 articles, as counted by NIH iCite
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher

Abstract

A 58-year-old woman with malignant mesothelioma metastatic to the orbit is reported. Malignant pleural mesothelioma was diagnosed by pleural biopsy. Marked reduction of pleural effusion was obtained with intrapleural interleukin-2 therapy. Systemic chemotherapy failed to elicit a response after the first recurrence of the tumor. Multiple systemic metastasis, including metastasis to the orbit, developed and the patient died one year and 4 months after the initial diagnosis. Although malignant mesothelioma is known to spread hematogenously, sometimes producing brain metastasis, there have been few reports of orbital metastasis, and in fact the present report may be the first clinically documented account of its kind.

In plain English

This was a case report of a 58-year-old woman in Japan whose malignant pleural mesothelioma spread to the orbit, the bony socket around the eye. The article reports that she did not smoke and had no history of exposure to asbestos. She first saw doctors in November 1988 with tiredness. A chest X-ray showed fluid around the right lung, and a pleural biopsy found mesothelioma of the epithelial type. Interleukin-2 given into the chest space greatly reduced the fluid. Seven months later the tumor grew back, and further chemotherapy produced no response. In December 1989 her right eye began to bulge. A brain CT scan, dated February 1990 in the figure, showed a mass in the right orbit pushing the eyeball sideways. She died in March 1990, one year and 4 months after diagnosis. At autopsy the cancer had spread to the heart, liver, kidney, adrenals, uterus and mesentery, and the orbital mass was confirmed as mesothelioma. Tissue examined after death showed a biphasic pattern. The authors concluded that malignant mesothelioma can spread through the bloodstream to any organ.

We wrote this plain-English summary from the full article with the help of AI, and a second AI model checked each sentence against the article. It is not the authors' wording; the abstract and the article are their own account.

What the study did and found

• Design: case report (a single patient)
• Who was studied: One 58-year-old woman who first presented in November 1988 and was later treated at the National Kinki Central Hospital for Chest Diseases, Osaka, Japan
• Exposure: None reported: the patient was a non-smoker and had no history of exposure to asbestos
• Main results:
  • A pleural biopsy at diagnosis showed malignant mesothelioma of the epithelial type
  • Intrapleural interleukin-2 therapy in December 1988 produced a marked reduction of the pleural effusion
  • After two cycles of cisplatin, vindesine and mitomycin-c, the tumor regrew seven months later
  • Two cycles of 4'-epidoxorubicin produced no response of the pleural nodules on chest X-ray, and chemotherapy was stopped
  • In December 1989 the patient developed eye symptoms, and examination found right exophthalmos (a bulging right eye)
  • A brain CT scan, which the figure caption dates to February 1990, showed a mass involving the right orbit with lateral deviation (sideways displacement) of the right eyeball
  • The patient died on March 5, 1990, one year and 4 months after the initial diagnosis
  • At autopsy, the mesothelioma involved both lungs and pleurae and had spread to the left atrium, left ventricle, liver, kidney, adrenals, uterus and mesentery. The mass in the right orbit was confirmed as a metastasis of the mesothelioma
  • Tissue examined after death showed a biphasic pattern, although the biopsy at diagnosis had shown the epithelial type
• The authors' conclusion: The authors concluded that malignant mesothelioma can spread through the bloodstream (hematogenously) to any organ

Topics

The National Library of Medicine indexes this study under subjects our site covers: Mesothelioma.

Medical terms in this study, explained in our Lexicon: Pleural Mesothelioma, Metastasis, Mesothelioma, Pleural Biopsy, Pleural Effusion, Chemotherapy.

Related studies

• Solitary fibrous tumor of the nasal cavity and orbit — M. Fukunaga, S. Ushigome, et al. (1995)
• Solitary fibrous tumour of the orbit — R. Sciot, J. Goffin, et al. (1996)
• Solitary fibrous tumor of the orbit: CT and pathologic correlation — S. Festa, H.J. Lee, et al. (1999)
• Orbital metastases from malignant mesothelioma — I. Mian, E. Padiernos, et al. (2020)
• EpCAM-independent capture of circulating tumor cells with a 'universal CTC-chip' — Y. Chikaishi, K. Yoneda, et al. (2017)
• Detection of circulating tumor cells with a novel microfluidic system in malignant pleural mesothelioma — K. Yoneda, T. Kuwata, et al. (2019)

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