[Non-small cell lung cancer presenting under the mask of a primary adrenal cancer--case report]

Adrenal carcinoma is a malignant disease that often results in distant metastases to different organs, including the lungs. While diagnosing patients with suspected adrenal carcinoma, metastases to the lungs should always be considered. The opposite clinical situation also should be considered, i.e. lung cancer metastases to the adrenal gland. Both conditions may have a very similar course and their differential diagnosis may be sometimes very difficult. However, proper diagnosis is of great importance because both diseases are treated by different means. We present a case of a 50-year-old female patient with a small primary focus of non-small cell lung carcinoma and its large metastasis to the left adrenal gland, accompanied by SIADH and paraneoplastic hypercalcemia. In the presented case adrenal carcinoma and its lung metastasis were primarily misdiagnosed which led to unnecessary laparotomy. The proper diagnosis was enabled by CT guided biopsy of the lung tumor.