Adenocarcinoma with fetal features invading the right superior sulcus treated with neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy followed by complete video-assisted thoracoscopic right upper lobectomy: a case report

BACKGROUND: Fetal adenocarcinoma of the lung is a rare lung neoplasm that accounts for only 0.5% of all primary lung cancers. Because of its rarity, effective treatments for the management of the tumor are poorly understood. We herein report a case of adenocarcinoma with fetal features of the lung with invasion of the right superior sulcus that was treated with neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy followed by surgical resection. CASE PRESENTATION: A 54-year-old man was referred to a medical institution due to right inner forearm pain. On computed tomography of the chest, a 56-mm mass with invasion of right superior sulcus was discovered. Bronchoscopic biopsy revealed non-small cell lung carcinoma. We performed concurrent chemotherapy (2 cycles of cisplatin and vinorelbine) and thoracic radiation therapy (40 Gy in 20 fractions). As the result of extreme tumor reduction after neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy, we could perform right upper lobectomy by complete video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery. Since no viable cancer cells were detected from the pathological examination of the resected tissue, the specimen obtained by bronchoscopic biopsy was reexamined by immunohistochemistry. The analysis supported a pathologic diagnosis of adenocarcinoma with fetal features. CONCLUSIONS: We experienced a case of adenocarcinoma with fetal features of the lung in which the patient showed a complete response to neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy. In addition, the tumor invading the right superior sulcus was completely resected by video-assisted thoracoscopic lobectomy. Neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy followed by surgery may be also an effective treatment for advanced-stage high-grade fetal adenocarcinoma of the lung, similarly to other subtypes of advanced-stage primary lung cancer.