[Pleuropulmonary blastoma: possible interest of neoadjuvant chemotherapy. A case report]

Pleuropulmonary blastoma is a very exceptional anatomoclinical and histological entity recently distinguished from adult pneumoblastoma. This tumor, observed in children aged less than 15, can involve the lung, the pleura, or the mediastinum and is characterized by a very poor prognosis. We report the case of a 4-year-old girl who developed pleuropulmonary blastoma which was discovered in a context of respiratory distress. Standard chest x-ray revealed an opacity covering the entire left lung. Histology and immunohistology led to the diagnosis of pleuropulmonary blastoma with several components: blastematous, malignant mesenchymatous with pluridirectional differentiation, and benign epithelial tissue. Treatment consisted in preoperative chemotherapy and radiotherapy to reduce tumor volume. This neoadjuvant treatment is not widely reported and its relatively favorable result allowed tumor resection. This approach might be useful in similar cases.