Unilateral Choroid Metastasis as an Initial Presentation of Lung Cancer-Two Case Reports

Abstract

Lung cancer is 1 of the major health problems in the world and the leading cause of cancer death in Taiwan. Well-known metastatic sites of lung cancer include the lung, lymph nodes, brain, bone, liver, etc. Choroid metastasis is rare and the diagnosis is based primarily on clinical findings supplemented by imaging studies. However, clinicians do not routinely evaluate the possibility of intraocular metastasis, mainly because of the low incidence of asymptomatic choroid metastasis. The most commonly used treatment in patients with symptomatic intraocular metastasis is radiotherapy. Herein, we report the cases of 2 patients who had blurred vision as the initial presentation, and were diagnosed with adenocarcinoma of the lung with brain and choroid metastasis. They refused radiotherapy of the eye, and commenced systemic chemotherapy and brain radiation therapy. One received plaxitaxel and the other received vinorelbine. Throughout serial follow-ups, their visual acuity subjectively improved, along with a reduction in the size of the intraocular tumor, as seen by ophthalmoscopic examination in 1 case.