Pancoast tumor
| Pancoast tumor | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Chest radiograph showing a Pancoast tumor (labeled as P, non-small cell lung carcinoma, right lung), from a 47-year-old female smoker. | |
| Classification and external resources | |
| Specialty | oncology |
| ICD-10 | C34.1 |
| ICD-9-CM | 162.3 |
| DiseasesDB | 31266 |
| eMedicine | med/3418 |
| MeSH | D010178 |
A Pancoast tumor, also called a pulmonary sulcus tumor or superior sulcus tumor, is a tumor of the pulmonary apex. It is a type of lung cancer defined primarily by its location situated at the top end of either the right or left lung. It typically spreads to nearby tissues such as the ribs and vertebrae. Most Pancoast tumors are non-small cell cancers.
The growing tumor can cause compression of a brachiocephalic vein, subclavian artery, phrenic nerve, recurrent laryngeal nerve, vagus nerve, or, characteristically, compression of a sympathetic ganglion resulting in a range of symptoms known as Horner's syndrome.
Pancoast tumors are named for Henry Pancoast, a US radiologist, who described them in 1924 and 1932.
Aside from cancer general symptoms such as malaise, fever, weight loss and fatigue, Pancoast tumour can include a complete Horner's syndrome in severe cases: miosis (constriction of the pupils), anhidrosis (lack of sweating), ptosis (drooping of the eyelid) and enophthalmos (sunken eyeball). In progressive cases, the brachial plexus is also affected, causing pain and weakness in the muscles of the arm and hand with a symptomatology typical of thoracic outlet syndrome. The tumour can also compress the recurrent laryngeal nerve and from this a hoarse voice and bovine cough may occur.
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