Abstract
A 69-year-old woman was diagnosed as having non-small cell lung cancer (adenocarcinoma, T1aN3M1b). She had no history of surgery or abdominal trauma. She was treated with ramucirumab (10 mg/kg) plus docetaxel (60 mg/m2) intravenously (RAM + DTX) every 3 weeks. Although an enhanced CT examination showed a partial tumor response after eight courses of RAM + DTX, she gradually began to experience abdominal fullness with severe peripheral pitching edema. Her body weight increased by 18 kg in 2 months and RAM + DTX chemotherapy was discontinued. An enhanced CT examination showed a large amount of ascites and pleural effusion, with no obstructions of the central vein or lymphatic ducts. The ascites were white and milky in appearance and contained 527 mg/dL of triglyceride. In addition, her pleural effusion was also white and milky in appearance. No further increases in ascites and pleural effusion were observed thereafter. Four months after her last RAM + DTX chemotherapy, she continued to exhibit a partial response and no increases in ascites or pleural effusion were present. The chylous effusion might have been caused by the RAM + DTX chemotherapy.
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Abbreviations
- NSCLC:
-
Non-small cell lung cancer
- RAM:
-
Ramucirumab
- DTX:
-
Docetaxel
- VEGFR:
-
Vascular endothelial growth factor receptor
- LECs:
-
Lymphatic endothelial cells
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Arai, M., Maruta, S., Fan, M.M. et al. Simultaneous chylous ascites and chylothorax during ramucirumab plus docetaxel chemotherapy in a patient with non-small lung cell cancer. Int Canc Conf J 8, 114–117 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13691-019-00366-6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13691-019-00366-6