Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2025 Apr 11.
doi: 10.1007/s00428-025-04093-7. Online ahead of print.

A challenging case of enteric-type lung adenocarcinoma metastatic to the thyroid harboring RET-fusion diagnosed on fine-needle aspiration

Anna Maria Carillo  1 , Caterina De Luca  1 , Mariantonia Nacchio  1 , Maria Salatiello  1 , Pasquale Pisapia  1 , Vincenzo Damiano  2 , Elena Vigliar  1 , Maria D'Armiento  1 , Giancarlo Troncone  3 , Claudio Bellevicine  1
Affiliations

A challenging case of enteric-type lung adenocarcinoma metastatic to the thyroid harboring RET-fusion diagnosed on fine-needle aspiration

Anna Maria Carillo et al. Virchows Arch. .

Abstract

Enteric-type lung adenocarcinoma is a histological entity where the enteric component exceeds 50% and must show the expression of at least one immunohistochemical marker of enteric differentiation. The most common differential diagnosis is colorectal carcinoma. Molecular alterations less commonly observed in colorectal adenocarcinoma but more frequently associated with enteric-type lung adenocarcinoma can be helpful in differential diagnosis. In this report, we show a case of a thyroid lesion diagnosed on FNA as a metastasis from colorectal carcinoma and then recognized as a metastasis from enteric-type lung adenocarcinoma thanks to the identification of a RET-fusion through NGS testing. This is the first case of enteric-type lung adenocarcinoma with RET-fusion reported.

Keywords: Enteric-type; FNA; Lung adenocarcinoma; Lung cytopathology; RET-fusion.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Declarations. Ethical approval: Institutional Review Board approval was waived since this study was retrospective and, thus, required no deviation from the standard of care. Written informed consent was obtained from the patient in accordance with the general authorization for processing personal data for scientific research purposes from “The Italian Data Protection Authority” ( http://www.garanteprivacy.it/web/guest/home/docweb/-/docwebdisplay/export/2485392 ). All information regarding human material was managed using anonymous numerical codes, and all samples were handled in compliance with the Declaration of Helsinki ( https://www.wma.net/policies-post/wma-declaration-of-helsinki-ethical-principles-for-medical-research-involving-human-subjects/ ). Conflict of interest: The authors declare no competing interests.

References

    1. Travis WD, Brambilla E, Noguchi M, Nicholson AG, Geisinger KR, Yatabe Y et al (2011) International association for the study of lung cancer/American thoracic society/European respiratory society international multidisciplinary classification of lung adenocarcinoma. J Thorac Oncol 6(2):244–285 - PubMed - PMC
    1. Nottegar A, Tabbò F, Luchini C, Brunelli M, Bria E, Veronese N et al (2018) Pulmonary adenocarcinoma with enteric differentiation: immunohistochemistry and molecular morphology. Appl Immunohistochem Mol Morphol 26(6):383–387 - PubMed
    1. Fassi E, Mandruzzato M, Zamparini M, Bianchi S, Petrelli F, Baggi A et al (2023) Clinical presentation and outcome of patients with enteric-type adenocarcinoma of the lung: a pooled analysis of published cases. Lung Cancer 179:107176 - PubMed
    1. Li H, Cao W (2020) Pulmonary enteric adenocarcinoma: a literature review. J Thorac Dis 12(6):3217–3226 - PubMed - PMC
    1. Luca CD, Pepe F, Pisapia P, Iaccarino A, Righi L, Listì A et al (2022) RNA-based next-generation sequencing in non-small-cell lung cancer in a routine setting: an experience from an Italian referral center. Pers Med 19(5):395–401

LinkOut - more resources