Clinical features and treatment of patients with lung adenocarcinoma with bone marrow metastasis

Abstract

Background: Bone marrow metastasis occurs in lung adenocarcinoma patients with a poor prognosis due to the late course and lack of definitive treatments, although reports on this are limited. This study analyzed the clinical manifestation, laboratory examination, treatment, and prognosis of patients with lung adenocarcinoma with bone marrow metastasis. Methods: All patients were confirmed to have bone marrow infiltration by bone marrow aspiration. The clinical data of 12 patients with lung adenocarcinoma with bone marrow metastasis were analyzed retrospectively. The prognostic factors were analyzed by Kaplan-Meier statistics. Results: The common biomarker abnormalities in 12 patients were elevated carcinoembryonic antigen in 12 cases (100%), elevated lactate dehydrogenase in 9 cases (75%), increased alkaline phosphatase and anemia in 8 cases each (66.7%), and thrombocytopenia in 4 cases (33.3%). After diagnosis of bone marrow metastasis, 5 patients were treated with platinum-based chemotherapy, 3 patients received chemotherapy and targeted drug tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) therapy, 2 patients received simple TKI therapy, and 2 patients received only best supportive care (BSC) therapy. The median duration of survival after the diagnosis of bone marrow involvement was 422 days. The survival time of patients receiving TKI therapy after bone marrow metastasis was significantly better than that of patients receiving only BSC and chemotherapy (χ2=4.636, P=0.031). Conclusions: The survival period of patients with lung adenocarcinoma with bone marrow metastasis is short, and targeted drug TKI treatment can prolong the survival time for patients with EGFR mutation–carrying lung adenocarcinoma with bone marrow metastasis.