Capitate Metastases in Adenocarcinoma Lung: A Rare Occurrence

ABSTRACT

Metastatic carcinoma is the most common malignancy of the bone. Metastases to the upper limbs of the skeleton are extremely uncommon, with only 10–15% occurring in this region. Metastases to the hand and wrist comprise about 0.15% of all hand tumours, and only 0.1% of all metastases. Carpal bone metastases are much rarer than those to the metacarpal and phalangeal bones. They usually masquerade as more common hand pathology such as arthritis or osteomyelitis. Given the bleak prognosis of carpal metastatic disease in lung cancer, treatment of a metastasis to the hand is usually palliative. Contrary to earlier beliefs, palliative radiotherapy plays a significant role in pain relief and improving hand mobility in patients diagnosed with metastatic disease of the hand. We report a case of adenocarcinoma of the lung with metastases to the capitate bone of the carpus treated with palliative radiotherapy.