Shen YY, Jiang J, Zhao J, Song J. Lung squamous cell carcinoma presenting as rare clustered cystic lesions: A case report and review of literature. World J Clin Cases 2022; 10(35): 13006-13014 [PMID: 36569005 DOI: 10.12998/wjcc.v10.i35.13006]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Jie Song, MD, Assistant Professor, Department of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Yantai Yuhuangding Hospital, Affiliated Hospital of Qingdao University, No. 20 Yuhuangding Road, Yantai 264000, Shandong Province, China. yt21576147@163.com
Research Domain of This Article
Respiratory System
Article-Type of This Article
Case Report
Open-Access Policy of This Article
This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
World J Clin Cases. Dec 16, 2022; 10(35): 13006-13014 Published online Dec 16, 2022. doi: 10.12998/wjcc.v10.i35.13006
Lung squamous cell carcinoma presenting as rare clustered cystic lesions: A case report and review of literature
Yu-Yao Shen, Jing Jiang, Jing Zhao, Jie Song
Yu-Yao Shen, Jing Jiang, Jie Song, Department of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Yantai Yuhuangding Hospital, Affiliated Hospital of Qingdao University, Yantai 264000, Shandong Province, China
Jing Zhao, Department of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical College, Beijing 100730, China
Author contributions: Shen YY conceived the study and wrote the manuscript; Jiang J and Song J participated in the diagnosis and treatment of the patient; Zhao J helped design the study and revised the manuscript; Song J supervised the study; All authors have read and approved the final manuscript.
Supported byYantai City Science and Technology Development Plan Item, No. 2019YD008.
Informed consent statement: Informed written consent was obtained from the patient’s wife for the publication of this report and any accompanying images.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.
CARE Checklist (2016) statement: The authors have read the CARE Checklist (2016), and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the CARE Checklist (2016).
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Jie Song, MD, Assistant Professor, Department of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Yantai Yuhuangding Hospital, Affiliated Hospital of Qingdao University, No. 20 Yuhuangding Road, Yantai 264000, Shandong Province, China. yt21576147@163.com
Received: August 27, 2022 Peer-review started: August 27, 2022 First decision: November 4, 2022 Revised: November 17, 2022 Accepted: November 23, 2022 Article in press: November 23, 2022 Published online: December 16, 2022
Abstract
BACKGROUND
Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related death. Early diagnosis is critical to improving a patient’s chance of survival. However, lung cancer associated with cystic airspaces is often misdiagnosed or underdiagnosed due to the absence of clinical symptoms, poor imaging specificity, and high risk of biopsy-related complications.
CASE SUMMARY
We report an unusual case of cancer in a 55-year-old man, in which the lesion evolved from a small solitary thin-walled cyst to lung squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) with metastases in both lungs. The SCC manifested as rare clustered cystic lesions, detected on chest computed tomography. There were air-fluid levels, compartments, and bronchial arteries in the cystic lesions. Additionally, there was no clear extrathoracic metastasis. After chemotherapy, the patient achieved a partial response, type I respiratory failure was relieved, and the lung lesions became a clustered thin-walled cyst.
CONCLUSION
Pulmonary cystic lesions require regular imaging follow-up. Lung SCC should be a diagnostic consideration in cases of thin-walled cysts as well as multiple clustered cystic lesions.
Core Tip: Lung cancer associated with cystic airspaces is often delayed diagnosis. We report a case in which the lesion evolved from a thin-walled cyst to advanced lung squamous cell carcinoma (SCC). The SCC manifested as rare clustered cystic lesions in bilateral lungs. There are air-fluid levels, compartments and bronchial arteries in the cyst. Additionally, there was no obvious extrathoracic metastasis. After chemotherapy, the lesions became clustered thin-walled cysts. Our report highlights SCC should be a diagnostic consideration in thin-walled cyst as well as multiple clustered cystic lesions.
