Pleomorphic carcinoma with extra-skeletal uptake on bone scintigraphy

Background. Pleomorphic carcinomas are rare tumors and are always difficult to diagnose preopera-tively. Case. A 67-year-old woman presented with pain in the left side of her chest. A CT scan detected a tumor mass 5.5 cm in diameter in the lower lobe of the left lung. An operation was performed under the suspicion of lung cancer. The frozen section examination yielded a diagnosis of adenocarcinoma. Left lower lobectomy and lymph node dissection were then performed. Postoperative pathological diagnosis showed that the tumor was a pleomorphic carcinoma of the lung. Also, bone scintigraphy showed an extra-skeletal uptake of the tumor. Conclusion. We encountered a case of pleomorphic carcinoma of the lung with extra-skeletal uptake. The case demonstrates the relationship between pleomorphic carcinoma and extra-skeletal uptake that can be ascertained by bone scintigraphy.