Pulmonary carcinoid tumour with remarkably high levels of pro-gastrin-releasing peptide: A case report

Natsuki Nakagawa; Masanori Kawakami; Masaki Suzuki; Satoshi Noguchi; Akihisa Mitani; Goh Tanaka; Aya Shinozaki-Ushiku; Takahide Nagase

doi:10.1016/j.rmcr.2023.101836

Pulmonary carcinoid tumour with remarkably high levels of pro-gastrin-releasing peptide: A case report

Respir Med Case Rep. 2023 Mar 11:43:101836. doi: 10.1016/j.rmcr.2023.101836. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Natsuki Nakagawa¹, Masanori Kawakami¹, Masaki Suzuki², Satoshi Noguchi¹, Akihisa Mitani¹, Goh Tanaka¹, Aya Shinozaki-Ushiku², Takahide Nagase¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Respiratory Medicine, The University of Tokyo Hospital, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, 113-8655, Japan.
² Department of Pathology, The University of Tokyo Hospital, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, 113-8655, Japan.

Abstract

An 86-year-old woman presented with chronic cough and chest pain. Computed tomography revealed two masses in the right lower lobe of the lung accompanied by multiple lymphadenopathies and metastasis to the rib. The pro-gastrin-releasing peptide (ProGRP) levels were notably elevated (888 pg/mL). Based on these findings, our initial clinical diagnosis was small-cell lung cancer. However, the pathological diagnosis turned out to be an atypical carcinoid. The patient was finally treated with everolimus. Clinicians should be aware that carcinoid tumours are sometimes difficult to distinguish from small-cell lung cancer with respect to high ProGRP levels and multiple metastases.

Keywords: Biomarkers; Carcinoid; Case report; Neuroendocrine neoplasm; Small-cell lung carcinoma.

Publication types

Case Reports