Ground-glass opacities showing an adenoma-to-carcinoma sequence in the lung

Gen Thorac Cardiovasc Surg. 2008 Aug;56(8):421-3. doi: 10.1007/s11748-008-0262-7. Epub 2008 Aug 13.

Abstract

We encountered a patient with three left lower lobe pulmonary tumors evident as discrete ground-glass opacities by computed tomography. Pathological diagnoses of the resected lesions included a focus of atypical adenomatous hyperplasia (AAH) and two localized noninvasive bronchioloalveolar carcinomas (BACs) of types A and C according to Noguchi's classification. This case supports the hypothesis of an adenoma-to-carcinoma sequence in the lung, as the coexisting lesions represented sequential adenocarcinoma progression from a precancerous lesion, AAH, to very early-stage adenocarcinoma, noninvasive BAC.

Publication types

  • Case Reports
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adenocarcinoma, Bronchiolo-Alveolar / diagnostic imaging
  • Adenocarcinoma, Bronchiolo-Alveolar / pathology*
  • Adenoma / diagnostic imaging
  • Adenoma / pathology
  • Aged
  • Cell Transformation, Neoplastic / pathology*
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Hyperplasia / diagnostic imaging
  • Hyperplasia / pathology
  • Lung Neoplasms / diagnostic imaging
  • Lung Neoplasms / pathology*
  • Precancerous Conditions / diagnostic imaging
  • Precancerous Conditions / pathology
  • Tomography, X-Ray Computed