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Choriocarcinoma of the lung: report of a case

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Abstract

In this report, a 27-year-old woman with a solitary pulmonary nodule is described. Because computed tomography-guided biopsy could not confirm the diagnosis, surgical treatment was performed by video-assisted thoracic surgery. Histological findings showed cytotrophoblasts and syncytiotrophoblasts, suggesting choriocarcinoma. However, there were no abnormal findings on gynecological examination, including ultrasonography, magnetic resonance imaging, and positron-emission tomography. Choriocarcinoma is a malignant neoplasm and can arise after a pregnancy, as a component of germ cell tumors, or in association with a poorly differentiated somatic carcinoma. Our patient, a young female with an antecedent gestation, has no recurrence after surgery. There were tumor emboli in pulmonary arteries and no component of primary lung carcinoma on histological examination. These findings indicate that the lesion was a metastasis of gestational choriocarcinoma. A rare case of a patient with metastatic gestational choriocarcinoma of a solitary pulmonary nodule without any uterine abnormality is presented.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgery, Nippon Medical School, Chiba Hokuso Hospital, 1715 Kamagari Inzai-shi, Chiba, 270-1694, Japan

    Takayuki Ibi, Kyoji Hirai & Ryuzo Bessho

  2. Division of Diagnostic Pathology, Nippon Medical School Hospital, Tokyo, Japan

    Masashi Kawamoto

  3. Department of Surgery, Nippon Medical School Hospital, Tokyo, Japan

    Kiyoshi Koizumi & Kazuo Shimizu

Authors
  1. Takayuki Ibi
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  2. Kyoji Hirai
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  3. Ryuzo Bessho
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  4. Masashi Kawamoto
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  5. Kiyoshi Koizumi
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  6. Kazuo Shimizu
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Takayuki Ibi.

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Ibi, T., Hirai, K., Bessho, R. et al. Choriocarcinoma of the lung: report of a case. Gen Thorac Cardiovasc Surg 60, 377–380 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11748-012-0009-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11748-012-0009-3

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