Iris metastasis from clear cell renal cell carcinoma: A case report

BACKGROUND

Clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) is a common type of tumor that can metastasize to any organs and sites. However, it is extremely rare for ccRCC to metastasize to the iris. Here, we describe a rare case of iris metastasis from ccRCC with a history of left nephrectomy in 2010.

CASE SUMMARY

A 62-year-old male was admitted to the hospital due to blurred vision and red eyes, and a mass was found on the iris in the right eye. B-scan ultrasonography revealed a well-bounded high-density lesion at the corner of the anterior chamber at the 3-4 o'clock position. Phacoemulsification with simultaneous intraocular lens implantation and iridocyclectomy was performed in the right eye. The lesion was confirmed to be metastatic ccRCC by histological and immunohistochemical analyses. The patient was still alive at 9 mo after surgical treatment. Ocular metastasis can be an initial sign with a poor prognosis. Timely detection and treatment may improve survival. Clinicians should pay attention to similar metastatic diseases to prevent misdiagnosis leading to missed treatment opportunities.

CONCLUSION

This report of the characteristics and successful management of a rare case of iris metastasis from ccRCC highlights the importance of a comprehensive medical history, histopathology, immunohistochemistry, and clinical manifestation for successful disease diagnosis.

Primary Tumour Type, Clinical Features, Treatment and Outcome of Patients with Iris Metastasis

PURPOSE

To describe the primary tumour type, clinical features, treatment and outcome of patients with Iris metastasis.

METHODS

Retrospectively analyzed articles published from 1934 to 2019 in the PubMed database.

RESULTS

In total, 133 eyes of 125 patients with iris metastatic carcinoma were retrieved. The average age at metastasis diagnosis of the patients was 56 ± 15 years; 60 left eyes and 49 right eyes were involved. The most common primary tumors were lung carcinoma (42%) and breast carcinoma (15%). Approximately one-third of the patients were first diagnosed in the ophthalmology department before the primary tumor was detected. Twenty-two percent of iris metastases were discovered before and 33% were discovered after systemic metastasis. The most common complaints were blurred vision and pain. The clinical features included iris masses, neovascularization and keratic precipitates. 57 patients (64%, N = 90) had an elevated intraocular pressure. Local administration of radiation therapy or intraocular injections of anti-VEGF drugs relieved eye discomfort and controlled the high intraocular pressures.

CONCLUSIONS

Iris nodules with increased intraocular pressure and neovascularization may indicate iris metastasis. Lung cancer is the most common primary tumor.

Significant improvement of ocular clinical pictures of iris metastasis from small-cell lung cancer after systemic chemotherapy

The uveal tract is the most common ophthalmic site of ocular metastasis from systemic tumors due to the luxurious blood flow within the choroidal tissue. However, iris metastasis from systemic cancer is uncommon, accounting for only 8% of cases of uveal metastasis. There are several methods for the treatment of iris tumor. Here, we reported a case of iris metastasis from small-cell lung cancer. The tumor shrunk after systemic treatment for lung cancer and showed no recurrence after a 4-month follow-up.

Iris metastasis as the initial presentation of upper gastrointestinal tract carcinoma: a case report

BACKGROUND

We report a case of a patient with iris metastasis as the initial manifestation of a systemic cancer: upper gastrointestinal tract carcinoma.

CASE PRESENTATION

A 24-year-old Asian man presented to our hospital with complaints of red left eye, decreased visual acuity, pain, and photophobia for about 3 weeks with no prior history of cancer or any other medical abnormality. Ocular examination showed a pinkish white lesion on the superonasal part of the iris. The patient's intraocular pressure was progressively increasing despite medications, followed by lymphadenopathy 4 weeks later. Comprehensive examination was performed along with a complete systemic workup, which detected systemic malignancy. Histopathology and immunohistochemistry revealed signet ring cells, which indicated an upper gastrointestinal tract tumor as a primary source of iris metastasis. The systemic condition of the patient deteriorated rapidly thereafter and led to his death in the 12th week of the disease.

CONCLUSION

A red eye with iris lesions in otherwise healthy individuals should be considered as a possible initial manifestation of underlying systemic malignancy. Prompt referral of such patients to an oncologist is warranted.

Calcified mucinous adenocarcinoma of the stomach metastatic to the iris: a case report

Background

Gastric cancer has a wide spectrum of clinical features, imaging manifestations, and pathology. Punctate calcifications in gastric cancer are infrequent but are usually found in mucinous adenocarcinoma. However, there have only been a few autopsy case reports describing the correlation between the radiology and pathology findings of calcified mucinous adenocarcinoma of the stomach. We present an autopsy case of mucinous gastric adenocarcinoma with iris metastases as the initial symptom.

Case presentation

A 74-year-old Japanese woman presented with blurred vision. Her treating ophthalmologist diagnosed acute iritis with secondary glaucoma. The histopathological and immunohistochemical features of a trabeculectomy specimen favored metastatic carcinoma, most likely of gastrointestinal tract origin. Esophagogastroduodenoscopy revealed multiple irregularly shaped ulcerative lesions, multiple erosions, and thickened folds in the corpus of her stomach. Histologic examination of a gastric tissue specimen obtained by endoscopic biopsy revealed poorly differentiated carcinoma with signet ring cell features. Computed tomography revealed a tumor with multiple punctate calcifications in the thickened gastric wall with diffuse low attenuation and multiple lymph node metastases, including the para-aortic lymph nodes, and peritoneal dissemination. She was diagnosed with stage IV gastric cancer (T4N3M1) and underwent seven cycles of 5-weekly TS-1, a novel oral fluoropyrimidine derivative, plus cisplatin therapy. Serial follow-up computed tomography revealed successive increases in the gastric wall calcifications. Her disease stabilized, but she died of aspiration pneumonia 8 months after the first visit. Autopsy tissue specimens had miliary, punctate calcifications present in abundant extracellular mucin pools in the submucosa, corresponding to the thickened low-attenuating middle layer on computed tomography. The final diagnosis was mucinous gastric adenocarcinoma because mucinous adenocarcinoma is diagnosed when more than half of the tumor area contains extracellular mucin pools.

Conclusions

We report the pathology and computed tomography imaging characteristics of a case of calcified mucinous adenocarcinoma of the stomach metastatic to the iris, including findings at autopsy. Metastatic carcinomas in the iris originating in the stomach are exceedingly rare. Multiple punctate calcifications were present in pools of extracellular mucin, a diagnostic clue for mucinous adenocarcinoma. Possible mechanisms underlying scattered punctuate calcifications in gastric mucinous adenocarcinoma warrant further investigation.

A Case Report of Intravitreal Bevacizumab for Iris Metastasis of Small Cell Lung Carcinoma with Neovascular Glaucoma

A 79-year-old man who had been diagnosed with small cell lung carcinoma (SCLC) complained of right ocular pain and blurred vision. His right intraocular pressure (IOP) was 30 mm Hg, and anterior chamber cells and multiple grayish white iris masses associated with peripheral anterior synechia (PAS) and neovascularization of the right iris were observed. We presumed that the iris masses were iris metastasis of SCLC. Despite therapy with topical eye drops and oral acetazolamide, the IOP was poorly controlled, so we injected intravitreal bevacizumab into his right eye for neovascular glaucoma. Neovascular glaucoma disappeared rapidly, but the IOP did not improve because of total PAS. To our knowledge, there is only one report of the use of intravitreal bevacizumab for SCLC metastasis in that eye and they reported that intravitreal injection resulted in successful short-term regression of presumed iris metastasis and improved control of secondary neovascular glaucoma, and the case had over one-half PAS. The previous report and our results suggest that secondary neovascular glaucoma with iris metastasis may be controlled by early intravitreal bevacizumab injection.

Iris metastasis preceding diagnosis of gastric signet ring cell adenocarcinoma: a case report

Background

A case of iris metastasis preceding the diagnosis of gastric signet ring cell adenocarcinoma is very rare. To report the findings in a patient who presented with an iris tumor that was later identified to have metastasized from a gastric signet ring cell adenocarcinoma.

Case presentation

A-74-year-old woman presented with visual disturbance and an increased intraocular pressure (IOP) in the right eye. She had no history of systemic cancer. She was initially diagnosed with acute iritis from diabetes mellitus and secondary glaucoma. She underwent trabeculectomy because of the uncontrolled IOP. After the IOP was controlled, she presented thick iris with corectopia, iris hemorrhage, and white, frog spawn-like mass resembling fibrin in the anterior chamber. An analysis of an iris biopsy suggested that the iris mass was an adenocarcinoma. Examination by esophagogastroduodenoscopy revealed advanced gastric signet ring cell adenocarcinoma as the primary source for the iris tumor.

Conclusions

We recommend that patients with acute iritis with atypical iris mass resembling fibrin and secondary glaucoma should be examined comprehensively for systemic tumors.

Intravitreal bevacizumab as therapy for refractory neovascular glaucoma secondary to iris metastasis of breast carcinoma

Purpose

To report a case of refractory glaucoma secondary to iris metastasis from breast cancer which was successfully treated with intravitreal bevacizumab.

Observations

A 72-year-old woman presented with left ocular pain, vision loss and neovascular glaucoma secondary to iris metastasis from breast cancer. A single intravitreal injection of bevacizumab resulted in prolonged resolution of iris neovascularization, reduction of intraocular pressure and ocular pain relief. Iris tumor regression was later noted following the reinstatement of systemic chemotherapy.

Conclusions & importance

A single intravitreal bevacizumab injection may be sufficient to achieve palliative control of neovascular glaucoma secondary to iris breast cancer metastasis. To our knowledge, this is the first case report in which a single intravitreal bevacizumab injection was used for the effective management of this condition.

Esophageal metastasis to the iris effectively palliated using stereotactic body radiation therapy and adjuvant intravitreal chemotherapy: case report and literature review

We report a case of isolated iris metastasis from esophageal adenocarcinoma that was successfully managed with local application of stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) and adjunctive intravitreal therapy. A 53-year-old man with locally advanced esophageal adenocarcinoma achieved a complete clinical and radiographic response after surgery and chemotherapy. Four months later, he developed headache and decreased vision and was diagnosed with metastasis to the iris by slit-lamp examination. The decrease in vision was secondary to cystoid macular edema. The metastatic tumor and the patient's symptoms resolved after treatment with SBRT and intravitreal injections of bevacizumab and triamcinolone. We conclude that SBRT combined with intravitreal chemotherapy is an effective and well-tolerated palliative treatment for metastasis of esophageal adenocarcinoma to the iris.