Double Cancer of the Liver and Lung: A Report of Three Cases

Hepatocellular carcinoma is one of the most common malignancies and, because of the high prevalence of chronic hepatitis B and C, it is the leading cause of death in Taiwan. Lung cancer coexisting with hepatocellular carcinoma has rarely been reported in the medical literature. It might have been misdiagnosed as lung metastasis in many cases. We report three cases of double cancer of the liver and lung. All of the diagnoses were confirmed by pathology. One of the three cases was diagnosed early enough to be treated with surgical resection of both liver and lung tumors. Computed tomography may be helpful in differentiating primary from metastatic lung cancer. Thus, in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma and lung lesions, the possibility of double cancer of the liver and lung rather than lung metastasis should be kept in mind.