Abstract

Rhabdoid phenotype is an uncommon histopatholtogic malignancy found in <1% of pulmonary large cell carcinomas and is associated with an extremely poor prognosis. To our knowledge, merely forty-six cases have been reported in the literature with reasonable immunohistochemical discoveries allowing differentiation from other rhabdoid-like neoplasms though none acknowledged effective treatment of this exceedingly aggressive tumor. At this moment, there is no specific treatment for large cell cancer with rhabdoid phenotype for this subpopulation and most cases have been treated as non-small cell lung cancer. Herein presented is a case of a 63 year-old male non-smoker diagnosed with this aggressive tumor phenotype which had an aggressive behavior and unfortunate prognosis.  The main characteristics of the tumor and the most recent treatment options are discussed.

Key words: Pleural effusion, large cell lung carcinoma, rhabdoid phenotype, immunohistochemical stains, lung.