[A case of lung adenocarcinoma with postoperative recurrence maintaining complete remission by treatment with gefitinib].

A 78-year-old woman without a smoking history was admitted to our hospital because of a tumor 4 cm in diameter found in her right lung at a cataract preoperative inspection check in May 2005. Her serum CEA level was 72. 4 ng/mL. Then, with the diagnosis of pT2N1M0, she was thus administered 2 courses of CBDCA(AUC=4)/GEM(1, 000 mg/m²)as adjuvant chemotherapy. Thereafter, a progressive increase in serum CEA was noted, and the chest CT obtained in March 2006 revealed two left lung metastases of 12 mm and 6mm in diameter. The patient was started on gefitinib. One month later her serum CEA level was within the normal range, and the lung metastatic nodules were not detected on the chest CT. In August 2007, the gefitinib was discontinued because of severe pain due to paronychia. Afterwards, and until May 2010, no recurrence has been detected, and her serum CEA has remained at a normal level. DNA analysis revealed a mutation of EGFR gene in exon 19 in the resected tumor.