title: Myoepithelial carcinoma: first case reported in the trachea.
abstract: Myoepithelial carcinoma displaying exclusively myoepithelial differentiation mainly occurs in the salivary glands and breasts, and is considered extremely rare in the trachea. We present the first documented case of a primary myoepithelial carcinoma in the trachea. The patient was a 23-year-old man who presented with shortness of breath and cough for four months. Bronchoscopy and computed tomographic (CT) scan revealed an intraluminal mass in the trachea. A standard sleeve of trachea resection with end-to-end reconstruction was performed. The tumor was mainly composed of spindle cells and epithelioid cells which exhibited relatively uniform nuclei with finely distributed chromatin and inconspicuous nucleoli, suggesting that it may arise from benign myoepithelioma. Moreover, the tumor displayed marked cytologic atypia and an infiltrative tumor border in some areas, suggesting that it was a malignant tumor. Immunohistochemically, the tumor cells were diffusely positive for AE1/AE3, Vimentin and myoepithelial makers (Calponin, P63 and GFAP). The patient's postoperative course was uneventful with no evidence of recurrence at six months after surgery.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Fudan University Shanghai Cancer Hospital, Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Yuan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Jian
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Hecheng
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Xiongzeng
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.forename: Lei
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Shen
mesh_terms: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000378:metabolism; D002135:Calcium-Binding Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D002277:Carcinoma / Q000473:pathology*; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008297:Male; D008840:Microfilament Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D009208:Myoepithelioma / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery; D012468:Salivary Gland Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology*; D014134:Tracheal Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery; D014746:Vimentin / Q000378:metabolism; D055815:Young Adult; D000096985:Calponins
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D002135:Calcium-Binding Proteins; D008840:Microfilament Proteins; D014746:Vimentin; D000096985:Calponins