MYOEPITHELIOMA OF THE LUNG - REPORT OF 2 CASES AND REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE

Myoepithelial tumors occur mainly in the salivary glands, the sweat gl ands or the breast, but uncommonly in the lung. Herein, we describe tw o cases of myoepithelioma of the lung. Both patients were 58-year-old men, in whom the tumors were located in the right-upper bronchus and i n the left-upper bronchus, respectively, with endobronchial growth pat tern. Surgery was performed, bur metastasis occurred into the forearm and hip muscles in the former case, and into the liver in the latter. Histologically, the tumor in the former was a spindle-plasmacytoid typ e, and that in the latter was a plasmacytoid type in part with squamou s differentiation. Based on histochemical, immunohistochemical and ult rastructual analyses, both were compatible with myoepithelioma. The cl inicopathological uniqueness of this neoplasm is discussed, together w ith a review of reports of this disease in the literature. (C) 1998 El sevier Science Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.