Primary mucinous adenocarcinoma of the lung: A case report and review of the literature

Mucinous adenocarcinoma is an unusual histological type of lung cancer, and its clinicopathological feature is distinctive from that of other histopathological types of lung adenocarcinoma. Mucinous adenocarcinoma has a mucus-producing function, which explains its name. The present study reports a rare case of a mucus-producing adenocarcinoma of the lung. A 60-year-old Chinese female patient was diagnosed with mucinous adenocarcinoma of the lung, which manifested as respiratory symptoms, including fever, cough and expectoration. The patient received thoracic exploratory operation and right pneumonectomy, since the above respiratory symptoms seriously affected her daily life, and other inspections could not establish the diagnosis. Histopathology revealed no mutations in epidermal growth factor receptor. The patient received adjuvant chemotherapy using taxol and cisplatin. However, metastases in the left lung were detected 7 months after the operation. Pemetrexed and cisplatin were used as the second-line treatment. The patient survived 3 years after the initial diagnosis. The present study reports a rare mucus-producing adenocarcinoma of the lung, which is of bad prognosis. Therefore, further studies on this type of cancer are urgently required.