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Review
. 2015 Nov 3:16:782-9.
doi: 10.12659/ajcr.894426.

Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer in a Very Young Woman: A Case Report and Critical Review of the Literature

Valentina Polo  1 , Giulia Zago  1 , Stefano Frega  1 , Fabio Canova  1 , Laura Bonanno  2 , Adolfo Favaretto  2 , Laura Bonaldi  3 , Roberta Bertorelle  3 , PierFranco Conte  1 , Giulia Pasello  2
Affiliations
Review

Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer in a Very Young Woman: A Case Report and Critical Review of the Literature

Valentina Polo et al. Am J Case Rep. .

Abstract

Background: Lung cancer in young patients is quite uncommon; clinical presentation and outcome in this population compared to the older group are not yet well defined and data about this setting are mostly single-institutional retrospective analyses.

Case report: We report here a case of a very young woman with diagnosis of early-stage lung adenocarcinoma harboring EML4-ALK rearrangement; she underwent radical surgery and adjuvant chemotherapy according to the pathologic stage. Potential risk factors for lung cancer in our patient are discussed and clinico-pathologic features and outcomes of lung cancer in the young population compared to the elderly are reviewed through discussing studies with sample sizes larger than 100 patients.

Conclusions: A wide clinical overview should be performed when lung cancer is diagnosed in a young patient. Large-population studies are required to define the molecular signature and clinical behavior of lung cancer in young patients.

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Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Computed tomography (CT) scan at diagnosis and positron emission tomography and CT-scan (PET/CT) at diagnosis, before surgery (A, B). CT scan after surgery at last follow-up visit (C).
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
FISH analysis was performed with ALK dual-color break-apart probe labelled with SpectrumOrange (3’end) and SpectrumGreen (5’end) (Abbott Molecular). The predominant ALK-positive FISH pattern observed in the sample was isolated red signal.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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