2017 Volume 31 Issue 2 Pages 238-242
Background: Mucoepidermoid carcinoma is rare, even among lung cancers, and discovery in the peripheral lung fields is especially rare. Patient: The patient was a 73-year-old man. Four years earlier, he had undergone an ileocecal resection for stage I cecal cancer. Three years previously, he had undergone chemoradiotherapy for stage I laryngeal cancer. One year earlier, he had undergone lateral segmentectomy for stage II alcohol-induced hepatocellular carcinoma. The patient was examined at the reporting hospital with the chief complaints of cough and sputum. A thoracic computed tomography scan revealed a 7-mm nodule in the periphery of S6 of the right lung. It was subsequently determined that the nodule had grown to 14 mm in size. Lung metastasis from any of the previous three cancers was suspected, and surgery was indicated. A thoracoscopic partial wedge resection of the lower lobe of the right lung was performed. The patient's postoperative progress was smooth, and he was discharged on postoperative day 11. Based on the results of the histopathological examination, we made a diagnosis of a highly malignant mucoepidermoid carcinoma (pT1aN0M0, stage IA). To date, 8 months post-surgery, the patient has had no recurrence and he is being monitored as an outpatient. Conclusion: The coexistence of mucoepidermoid lung carcinoma with other cancers has also been reported, so strict monitoring is required for the early detection of not only recurrence but also subsequent cancers.
