A case of low-grade mucoepidermoid carcinoma with lymph node metastasis

Abstract

We report a rare case of low-grade mucoepidermoid carcinoma (low-grade MEC) with lymph node metastasis. A 47-year-old female was referred to our hospital because of an abnormality on a chest radiograph and CT. Chest CT revealed a mass in the truncus of the left upper bronchus and atelectasis of the lingula. PET showed abnormal FDG accumulation in the left upper tumor but not in the regional lymph node or in a distant site. The tumor was diagnosed as low-grade MEC by bronchial biopsy (cT2aN0M0). We performed left upper sleeve lobectomy and mediastinal lymph node dissection because of hilar lymph node metastasis based on the intraoperative frozen pathology. The final pathological diagnosis was low-grade MEC (T2aN1M0). The postoperative course was uneventful. The patient was alive without recurrence 2.5 years after surgery.