Marked elevation of CA19-9 in a patient with rheumatoid arthritis-associated pulmonary fibrosis

Abstract

We report a case of a 78-year-old male was admitted for 2 years of blood CA19-9 >1000 kU/L found at physical examination. Abdominal computed tomography, barium meal and gastrointestinal endoscopy did not find any malignancy. Position emission tomography indicated interstitial pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) (severe) accompanied with reactive hyperplasia of mediastinal lymph node and bilateral pleural thickening. The patient also claimed to have rheumatoid arthritis (RA) for more than 40 years. Then final diagnosis was RA with IPF. The patient’s blood CA19-9 was improved after 5-day treatment of hormone inhalation.