CASE REPORT article
Front. Oncol.
Sec. Thoracic Oncology
This article is part of the Research TopicInnovative Ways of Targeting the RTK/RAS/RAF PathwayView all 5 articles
Pulmonary Enteric Adenocarcinoma harboring KRAS/TP53/APC mutations with contralateral lung metastasis: Diagnostic Challenges and Molecular Insights
Provisionally accepted
- 1Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Chengdu, China
- 2University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, China
- 3Sichuan Cancer Hospital and Institute, Chengdu, China
Select one of your emails
You have multiple emails registered with Frontiers:
Notify me on publication
Please enter your email address:
If you already have an account, please login
You don't have a Frontiers account ? You can register here
Pulmonary enteric adenocarcinoma (PEAC) is a rare subtype of lung adenocarcinoma characterized by intestinal differentiation. We report a case of synchronous bilateral PEAC in an elderly male, a presentation rarely documented in the literature. Histopathological examination revealed glandular structures resembling colorectal adenocarcinoma, with immunohistochemical positivity for CDX2, CK20, and SATB2, but negativity for TTF-1 and CK7. Molecular testing identified concurrent KRAS, TP53, and APC mutations, suggesting the activation of a colorectal-like oncogenic pathway. Following surgical resection and adjuvant chemoradiotherapy, the patient achieved short-term disease stability. This case highlights the diagnostic dilemma between primary PEAC and metastatic colorectal cancer, and underscores the importance of integrated molecular and immunophenotypic profiling for accurate classification and potential targeted therapy.
Keywords: Immunohistochemistry, KRAS, PEAC, Synchronous bilateral lung cancer, TP53
Received: 16 Oct 2025; Accepted: 01 Dec 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Mao, Hu, Tao, Zuo and Liu. 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: Bin Liu
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.