Pulmonary Blastoma:
Clinical:
An exceedingly rare tumor with a biphasic distribution (1st and 7th
decades), although patients may present at any age. Men are affected
more than women (2.5:1). It is typically peripheral and often large
by the time of presentation. Histologically the lesion consists of
both an epithelial and mesenchymal components and two subtypes have
been described- biphasic and well differentiate fetal
adenocarcinoma. Metastases are frequently found in patients with
biphasic tumors- typically intrathoracic. Prognosis depends upon the
histologic subtype- patients with the well-differentiated fetal
adenocarcinoma subtype have a significantly better prognosis with a
10 year survival of 78% (compared to 8-14% ten year survival for the
biphasic tumor).
X-ray:
The tumor usually presents as a large peripheral mass (typically
well circumscribed) with abundant central necrosis and hemorrhage.
The average size at presentation is 6 cm.
