Primary lung adenoid cystic carcinoma: a case report and review of the literature

Adenoid cystic carcinoma (ACC) is a rare low-grade malignant epithelial tumor that usually originates in the salivary glands. It shows a slow progression and metastasizes rarely. A 74-year-old male patient was admitted to our clinic due to pulmonary lesions seen on a chest-X ray coincidentally. The patient, 6 years before admission, was operated on for a peptic ulcer perforation and a right hilar mass lesion, and bibasilar pulmonary nodular lesions were also found on his chest radiograph. A bronchoscopic biopsy revealed ACC and surgical treatment was offered to the patient; however, he refused it. The patient, who had a 130-pack-year smoking history, was asymptomatic on admission to our clinic. Since metastatic pulmonary lesions were present, the patient was diagnosed with stage IV lung cancer and given chemotherapy. Thorax computerized tomography, performed after treatment, revealed no change in the size or number of pulmonary lesions, and the patient has been followed since then and is still asymptomatic. This case of metastatic ACC was reported, after a review of the literature, as being a rare case, as the patient revealed no symptoms from the time of diagnosis until the end of treatment.