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Vol.48 No.7 contents | Japanese/English |
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- Case Report -
A Case of Tracheal Mucoepidermoid Carcinoma Detected as a Minute Lesion
Shigeo Yamazaki1, Takeshi Okayasu1, Yasuhiro Suzuki1, Masao Hosokawa11Department of Surgery, Keiyukai Sapporo Hospital, Japan
Background. Tracheal cancers are rare malignancies, and are generally found due to respiratory symptoms caused by an enlarged mass in the tracheal lumen. It is difficult to find an asymptomatic minute lesion of tracheal cancer. Case. A 79-year-old male patient with esophageal cancer (squamous cell carcinoma) with no respiratory symptoms underwent bronchoscopic examination as part of screening for other primary or metastatic cancers. A 5-mm elevated lesion was detected in the membranous wall in the middle of the trachea with no abnormal findings on chest CT scan. A biopsy of the tracheal lesion revealed mucoepidermoid carcinoma. Although both the tracheal and esophageal lesions seemed to be resectable, we considered resection of the lesion in 2 organs was not indicated because of his age and general condition. Therefore radiotherapy (60 Gy) was performed for both lesions in the same radiation field. After treatment both lesions became undetectable and no recurrence has been observed for more than 3 years. Conclusion. We reported a case of asymptomatic minute tracheal cancer (mucoepidermoid carcinoma) diagnosed by bronchoscopy, which was successfully treated by radiotherapy.
key words: Tracheal cancer, Mucoepidermoid carcinoma, Minute lesion, Radiotherapy
Received: July 24, 2008
Accepted: September 11, 2008
JJLC 48 (7): 832-835, 2008
