2016 Volume 56 Issue 5 Pages 373-378
Background. Chondrosarcoma often originates in the femur and pelvis and rarely in the lungs. In Japan, to date, only 18 cases have been reported, including the present case. Case. The patient was a 53-year-old man who regularly consulted a local physician for hypertension and dyslipidemia. One month prior to the initial examination, the subject experienced coughing and was examined by his primary care physician. Upon the identification of a shadow that indicated a mass in the right lower lobe of the lung on a chest X-ray, the subject was referred to our department and was hospitalized for close examination. Chest CT revealed a mass spanning the right middle and lower lobes; however, bronchoscopy did not lead to definite diagnosis. A malignant tumor was suspected on the basis of MRI and FDG-PET. Thus, right middle and lower lobectomy was performed. The histopathological analysis of the resected specimen revealed the growth of chondrocyte-like tumor cells with irregular atypia in large volumes of hyaline cartilage-like substrate, which led to the pathological diagnosis of chondrosarcoma. On the basis of the results of a whole body examination, pulmonary metastasis from other organs was ruled out and pulmonary chondrosarcoma was diagnosed. The patient's postoperative progress has been favorable, and at present, the patient is progressing without recurrence or primary lesions in other organs. Conclusion. We experienced the case of a patient with chondrosarcoma, which was considered to have originated in the lungs. In such cases, the recommended first-line treatment is total surgical resection. The prognosis following complete resection is generally good. However, recurrence is common; thus, such cases require careful follow-up, similar to the present case.
