Lung Cancer with Isolated Skip Metastasis to an Abdominal Lymph Node

BACKGROUND: Lung cancer is usually diagnosed at an advanced stage with metastases present in 40% of patients. The preferential sites of extrapulmonary spread include lymph nodes, liver, brain, adrenal gland, and bone. Direct lymphatic metastases to abdominal lymph nodes without involvement of lobar, hilar or mediastinal lymph nodes is rare. CASE REPORT: We report a case of adenocarcinoma of the lung in the left lower lobe, with isolated metastasis to an abdominal lymph node detected by positron emission tomography (PET), followed by confirmation with surgical exploration. CONCLUSION: The low incidence reported for skip metastasis to the abdominal lymph nodes may be attributed to an underestimation in the past. With the advent of PET computed tomography (PET-CT) and its use as a standard pre-operative staging modality for lung cancer, one should anticipate an increased incidence of skip metastasis.