Abstract
Background. Basaloid carcinoma is a rare histological subtype of large cell carcinoma. It has been reported that making a preoperative diagnosis of this disease is often difficult and the prognosis is poor. We herein report a case of basaloid carcinoma of the lungs with a review of the literature. Case. An 84-year-old male who presented with dyspnea was referred to our hospital for a nodular lesion in the right upper lung on a chest radiograph. Wedge resection of the lung was performed, and frozen sectioning disclosed poorly differentiated carcinoma. Basaloid carcinoma of the lungs was diagnosed based on the histopathological findings. The patient did not receive adjuvant chemotherapy due to his poor general condition and is presently alive without recurrent disease 10 months after undergoing surgery. Conclusion. Basaloid carcinoma is often inadequately diagnosed as poorly differentiated or undifferentiated carcinoma because a detailed immunohistochemical assessment is needed to make a diagnosis and many characteristics of the disease are still unknown, including the prognosis. Therefore, further studies to identify effective treatment modalities are needed.
