A Case of Peripheral Adenoid Cystic Carcinoma of the Lung

A rare case of adenoid cystic carcinoma which originated in the peripheral lung was reported. An abnormal shadow was pointed out on the chest X-ray examination of a 46-yearold woman in August, 1988. A round tumor measuring 3.5×3.1cm was present in the right lower lobe. She was healthy and asymptomatic. Right lower lobectomy with mediastinal lymph node dissection was performed on September 28, 1988. The surgically resected specimen of the tumor revealed the typical histology of adenoid cystic carcinoma. A gross study suggested that the tumor might have been derived from the fifth or sixth order peripheral bronchi. The tumor doubling time of the present case was estimated as about 667 days, based on radiological evaluation. In the Japanese literature, to our knowledge, there are only 5 cases of peripheral typeof adenoid cystic carcinoma of the lung, including our case.