Primary myoepithelial carcinoma of the lung: a case report and review of literature.

Primary myoepithelial carcinoma of the lung is a very rare tumor arising from the salivary glands of the respiratory epithelium. Since it was first described by Higashiyama et al. in 1998, to the best of our knowledge, only eight actual cases reported in the English-language literature so far. The diagnosis is based entirely on histological and immunohistochemical evaluations. We report a primary myoepithelial carcinoma in a smoker 47-year-old Chinese man, who was referred to our institution for hemoptysis. Computed tomography revealed a 65 mm × 78 mm solid mass in the left lower lobe of lung. The patient underwent the left lower lobe resection. The final histopathological diagnosis was primary myoepithelial carcinoma of the lung. Given the rare occurrences of this tumor, appropriate recommendations for treatment are difficult to formulate. Although classified as low-grade tumor, it has a significant rate of distant metastasis. Herein we report a case of a primary myoepithelial carcinoma of the lung and present a brief review of the literature.