Citation

El Saghir NS, Elhajj II, Geara FB, Hourani MH. BMC Cancer 2005; 5: 94.

Affiliation

Department of Internal Medicine, American University of Beirut Medical Center, Beirut, Lebanon. nagi.saghir@aub.edu.lb

Copyright

(Copyright © 2005, Holtzbrinck Springer Nature Publishing Group - BMC)

DOI

10.1186/1471-2407-5-94

PMID

16080790

PMCID

PMC1190165

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Cancer patients may harbor micrometastases that remain dormant, clinically undetectable during a variable period of time. A traumatic event or surgery may trigger the balance towards tumor growth as a result of associated angiogenesis, cytokine and growth factors release. CASE PRESENTATION: We describe a patient with non-small lung cancer who had a rapid tumor growth and recurrence at a minor trauma site of his skull bone. CONCLUSION: This case is an illustration of the phenomenon of tumor growth after trauma or surgery and its associated cellular mechanisms. This phenomenon deserves further investigation and study.

Language: en