The cytology of pulmonary well-differentiated foetal adenocarcinoma

Cytomorphology of pulmonary low-grade fetal adenocarcinoma in bronchial brushing specimen prepared by BD SurePath: A case report and literature review

Low-grade fetal adenocarcinoma (LGFA) of the lung is a rare subtype of lung adenocarcinoma, resembling developing fetal lung in pseudoglandular stage. LGFA is very different to conventional adenocarcinoma. It is more likely to occur in young adults and has favorable prognosis. Reports on the cytology of LGFA are very rare; only 10 cases have been reported previously in the English literature. Our case report adds to the cytological features of this tumor sampled by bronchial brushing and is the first case prepared by the BD SurePath liquid-based cytology. We present a case of 31-year-old male with endobronchial involvement of right bronchus. The cytological features of diagnostic clues for LGFA include three dimensional glandular arrangements of uniform, columnar cells with inconspicuous nucleoli. It is important to recognize this rare and favorable variant of lung adenocarcinoma. In this report, we present the cytological and pathological features of LGFA, along with a literature review.

Axitinib affects cell viability and migration of a primary foetal lung adenocarcinoma culture

Fetal lung adenocarcinoma (FLAC) is a rare variant of lung adenocarcinoma. Studies regarding FLAC have been based only on histopathological observations, thus representative in vitro models of FLAC cultures are unavailable. We have established and characterized a human primary FLAC cell culture, exploring its biology, chemosensitivity, and migration. FLAC cells and specimen showed significant upregulation of VEGF165 and HIF-1α mRNA levels. This observation was confirmed by in vitro chemosensitivity and migration assay, showing that only Axitinib was comparable to Cisplatin treatment. We provide a suitable in vitro model to further investigate the nature of this rare type of cancer.

Aspiration cytomorphology of fetal adenocarcinoma of the lung

Fetal adenocarcinoma (FA) of the lung is an exceedingly rare malignancy. Many patients with the well-differentiated form are relatively young and with the high-grade variant are older. We describe the cases of 4 women with FA examined by fine-needle aspiration biopsy. Aspirates were moderately cellular with malignant, mostly aggregated cells. Glands and acini were present. The columnar neoplastic epithelial cells had homogeneous round nuclei with fine chromatin, smooth membranes, and indistinct nucleoli. With the rapid Romanowsky stain, subnuclear vacuoles were evident in some tumor cells; at times, this was associated with a focal extracellular tigroid pattern. Morule formation was present in the 3 specimens. Immunochemically, all tumors manifested epithelial and neuroendocrine differentiation. Cytomorphologic attributes included the following: (1) distinct subnuclear vacuoles, sometimes with an associated tigroid picture; (2) small, uniform, round nuclei; (3) morules; and (4) neuroendocrine differentiation in glandular epithelial cells.