A 32-year-old woman who lost her vision in one eye was diagnosed with lung cancer.

The woman is a mother of two from India. She consulted a doctor after she lost her vision in one eye. According to a case study that was published in the Elsevier Journal Radiology Case Reports the woman's lungs were filled with cancerous tumors, despite reporting no pulmonary disturbances.

The woman had no history of smoking but was riddled with tumors that had previously not been caused by any other signs. Dr. Alok Pratap Singh, of the Sanjay Gandhi Postgraduate Institute of Medical Sciences, said that despite widespread malignant involvement, the patient was completely asymptomatic and active except for visual disturbances. He also said that this case further underlines the requisite of prompt and priority-based assessment of patients for lung carcinoma whenever doubtful intraocular lesions are reported. The doctors added that these cases represent a distinct subset of lung malignancy.

The woman lost her vision in her right eye and in her left eye she saw flashing lights (a visual disturbance called photopsia) over the previous 20 days. The test results of the woman revealed that she had lung cancer with choroidal metastasis in both of her eyes. As per the New York Eye Cancer Centre, choroidal metastasis is a cancer that begins somewhere else in the body but moves into the eye through the blood.

The woman reported that she did not feel any pain or redness around either of her eyes and also had not suffered any injuries or problems with other parts of her body. The scans discovered that there was a growth on the inside black surface (medically known as the fundus) of her right eye and small growths were also spotted on her left eye but the blood tests indicated that her red and white blood cell counts were in the normal range. Her chest X-ray revealed growths in her lower right lung which doctors doubted that it was cancerous. Additional tests revealed tumors across multiple organs in her body and was diagnosed with lung carcinoma with choroidal metastasis in both of her eyes.

Dr. Alok said that this case indicates that doctors should always check for lung cancer in patients who are suffering from vision issues.

According to the NIH, lung cancer is the leading cause of death globally and is a major health concern in India. According to the estimate of Globocan, lung cancer in India would indicate the incidence of lung cancer in India is 70,275 for all ages and both genders with an age-standardized incidence rate being 6.9 per 100,000 of the population. Nearly 40% of the people who never smoked also get lung cancer annually. In metastatic lung cancer cases the tumors can develop in the eyes around 0.1 to 7 percent, it is also known as ocular metastasis.

According to the Mayo Clinic, lung cancer is a type of cancer that begins as a growth of cells in the lungs. The signs and symptoms of lung cancer include chest pain, a new cough that doesn't go away, hoarseness, shortness of breath, wheezing, and coughing up blood. When the disease spreads to other body parts it shows other symptoms that include bone pain, headache, losing weight, loss of appetite, and swelling in the face or neck.

References:

1. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4991145/#:~:text=Globocan%20estimate%20of%20lung%20cancer,per%20100%2C000%20of%20our%20population.

2.   https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/lung-cancer/symptoms-causes/syc-20374620

(Input from various sources) 

(Rehash/Lavanya Beeraboina/MSM)