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Vol.47 No.7 contents | Japanese/English |
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- Case Report -
A Case of Pulmonary Pleomorphic Carcinoma with a Cavitating Tumor
Hiromasa Morikawa1, Toru Tanaka1, Masatsugu Hamaji1, Kimiyasu Sano2, Shigeo Yasuda2, Tatsuo Kato21Department of Thoracic Surgery, 2Department of Chest Disease, National Hospital Organization Nagara Medical Center, Japan
Background. Pleomorphic carcinoma is a rare primary pulmonary malignancy with an incidence rate of about 0.3% of all lung tumors. We report a case of pulmonary pleomorphic carcinoma with a cavity. Case. A 62-year-old man was referred to our hospital with persistent cough since about 2 months previously. Chest X-ray film showed a cavitating mass lesion in the left upper lung field. Chest CT showed a cavitating mass lesion 4 cm in diameter with irregular walls in the left upper lobe. Non-small-cell lung cancer was diagnosed by transbronchial lung biopsy, and we performed left upper lobectomy with hilar and mediastinal lymph node dissection. Histological findings showed that the squamous cell carcinoma consisted of spindle cell and giant cell components. Therefore, we diagnosed pulmonary pleomorphic carcinoma (pT2N0M0, stage IB). Eight months after the operation, the patient is alive without any sign of recurrence. Conclusion. Some reports show the prognosis of pleomorphic carcinoma to be very poor. Hence, strict follow-up is necessary for such patients.
key words: Lung cancer, Pleomorphic carcinoma, Cavity, Surgery
Received: June 22, 2007
Accepted: September 12, 2007
JJLC 47 (7): 871-875, 2007
