Adenoid Cystic Carcinoma of Distal Trachea: a Case Report

Primary malignant tumors of the trachea are very rare with the incidence of less than two per million people per year, and only ten percent of them are adenoid cystic carcinomas. Eighty percent of all tracheal tumors are malignant. Diagnosis is usually late because the symptoms mimic other conditions such as asthma. Clinical picture may sometimes be dramatic when airway is almost closed and emergency recanalization is necessary. Diagnosis is made by chest computed tomography scan or magnetic resonance imaging. Definitive treatment is surgical resection alone or followed by radiation therapy or radiation therapy alone. Radical resection is only accomplished in about half of all cases because of the submucosal tumor growth and limited length of tracheal resection. The role of adjuvant radiation therapy in negative resection margin cases is not clear but all patients with positive resection margin benefit from radiation therapy. We present a case of a 43-year-old patient with primary adenoid cystic carcinoma of distal trachea treated by emergency bronchoscopic recanalization and resection of the tracheal tumor with end-to-end anastomosis.