Thin-Walled Cavitary Lung Adenocarcinoma: A Rare Unusual Case

Abstract

Thin-walled cavitary lung adenocarcinoma is not common. When cavitary lung cancer was classified as a histologic subtype, squamous cell carcinoma was the most common, followed by adenocarcinoma and finally large cell carcinoma. Cavitation was not found in small cell lung cancer. Some cases of thin-walled cavitary lung adenocarcinoma have been reported. Thin-walled cavitary lung cancer can be detected by the following radiological signs: irregular thickening of the cavity wall, wall nodule formation, the presence of compartments in the cavity, increased standard uptake values (SUVs) on positron emission tomography (PET). A thin-walled cavity accompanied by mediastinal lymph node or distant metastasis, or enlargement of the lesion on long term follow-up. We report on a case of thin walled cavitary lung cancer whose cavity tended to enlarge during a 10-month follow-up, but no other evidence of imaging finding indicated potential lung cancer. It suggests that the unidirectional check-valve mechanism could make enlarging thin walled cavitary lesion due to lepidic growth pattern.