2018 Volume 5 Issue 1 Pages 38-43
Pulmonary pleomorphic carcinoma (PPC) is a subgroup of non-small cell lung cancer that contains both epithelial and mesenchymal (sarcomatoid) components. Because of its rarity and aggressiveness, there are few reports describing the early stage of PPC. In this report, we describe a case of PPC detected as a small shadow during optional low-dose computed tomography (CT) screening that was completely resected at the early stage after follow-up.
During a health check-up for a 64-year-old man at our institution, optional low-dose chest CT screening revealed a small ground-glass opacity-like shadow in the peripheral area of the upper lobe of the right lung. Afterwards, the lesion was monitored using standard-dose CT. Although no remarkable changes had been observed up to 12 months, it had become enlarged by the 18-month follow-up. Further examinations did not provide a definitive diagnosis, so a surgical operation was performed for both diagnosis and treatment purposes. As the intraoperative rapid pathologic diagnosis revealed malignancy, a typical right upper lobectomy and mediastinal lymph node dissection were performed. Microscopic images of the tumor showed both epithelial and sarcomatoid components. The pathological diagnosis obtained using permanent sections was PPC resected completely at stage IA.
