CASE REPORT article
Front. Oncol.
Sec. Thoracic Oncology
Volume 15 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fonc.2025.1663537
This article is part of the Research TopicAdvancing Diagnostic Excellence in Early Lung Cancer DetectionView all 6 articles
Rosai-Dorfman disease mimicking lung cancer: A case report
Provisionally accepted
- 1Department of Radiology, the Fourth Affiliated Hospital of School of Medicine, and International School of Medicine, International Institutes of Medicine，Zhejiang University, Yiwu, China
- 2Department of Pathology, the Fourth Affiliated Hospital of School of Medicine, and International School of Medicine, International Institutes of Medicine，Zhejiang University, Yiwu, China
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Abstract Background: Rosai-Dorfman disease (RDD) is an uncommon, benign histiocytic condition with an unclear underlying cause. It typically manifests as painless, bilateral, and significantly enlarged cervical lymph nodes. However, extranodal involvement can also occur, affecting the skin, nasal cavity, bones, orbital tissues, and central nervous system (CNS). Moreover, involvement of the respiratory system is observed in approximately 2% of cases. Case description: A 75-year-old female was admitted to our hospital with a one-week history of lumbar and back pain. Chest computed tomography (CT) identified a nodule located in the lung upper right lobe, characterized by spiculated margins and proximal bronchial atresia, raising suspicion for lung cancer. The patient subsequently underwent thoracoscopic lobectomy. Postoperative histopathological examination and immunohistochemical analysis confirmed the diagnosis of RDD. Conclusion: Pulmonary RDD is rare and can be easily mistaken for other tumors or inflammatory diseases because of its nonspecific clinical and radiological features. Definitive diagnosis requires histopathological evaluation and immunohistochemical analysis.
Keywords: Rosai-Dorfman disease, Lung, IgG4-related disease, Histiocytosis, Radiological presentation
Received: 30 Jul 2025; Accepted: 06 Oct 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Zhang, Gao, Chen, Huang, Yang and HU. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: JI BO HU, 3196008@zju.edu.cn
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