Pulmonary Carcinosarcoma Research Articles

Histochemical and ultrastructural features of an unusual pulmonary carcinosarcoma

An autopsy case is presented in which a pulmonary carcinosarcoma filled the left chest of a 61 year old man. The extensive pleural involvement that this neoplasm exhibited has not been reported previously. By light microscopy the neoplasm initially was considered a mesothelioma because of the pattern of glands and undifferentiated sarcomatous stroma. However, by electron microscopy the sarcomatous component was found to show rhabdomyoblastic differentiation. Neither histochemical stains nor electron microscopy supported a mesothelial origin for the glandular component. Differential diagnostic considerations of pleuropulmonary neoplasms showing rhabdomyosarcomatous differentiation are discussed. This case illustrates the importance of detailed study in order to characterize and properly classify these neoplasms.

Pulmonary blastoma

Pulmonary blastoma is a rare tumor of the lung. Although it has been stated that this is predominantly a tumor of adults, a review of the 42 cases published to date reveals that it is a disease which occurs with some frequency in children. The tumor is relatively benign compared to pulmonary carcinosarcoma. Of the eight cases previously described in children, three are known to have survived and to be free of disease 10 months, 3 and 8 years after surgical resection. We report two additional cases of pulmonary blastoma in children followed for 34 and 26 months without any evidence of recurrence or metastases.

Pulmonary carcinosarcoma: Etiologic, therapeutic, and prognostic considerations

Pulmonary carcinosarcoma: Etiologic, therapeutic, and prognostic considerations

Pulmonary blastoma.

A case of pulmonary blastoma is described in a man dying at the age of 50 from hepatic and cerebral metastases. Eleven previously reported cases are reviewed and the histogenesis is discussed. It is concluded that these rare tumours are a distinct form of pulmonary carcinosarcoma in which the epithelial element is an adenocarcinoma. It is this that gives it its characteristic and probably coincidental histological resemblance to foetal lung and the evidence for a blastomatous origin is regarded as insufficient.