Overdiagnosis of a typical carcinoid tumor as an adenocarcinoma of the lung: a case report and review of the literature

Background Overdiagnosis of bronchopulmonary carcinoid tumors together with overtreatment can cause serious postoperative consequences for the patient. We report of a patient with a typical bronchopulmonary carcinoid tumor, which was initially misdiagnosed and treated as an adenocarcinoma of the lung. GnrH receptors and the associated Raf-1/MEK/ERK-1/2-pathway are potential targets for analogs in cancer treatment. We suspected a correlation between the lack of tumor growth, application of leuprolide and the Raf-1/MEK/ERK-1/2-pathway. Therefore, we examined GnrH receptor status in the examined specimen.