Misdiagnosis of a small cell lung cancer resulting from inaccurate pathology

Currently, a biopsy provides the most reliable evidence for diagnosing a disease, and the majority of doctors do not question the diagnosis made by a pathologist. However, an inaccurate diagnosis may lead to serious consequences; for example, a benign tumor may be misdiagnosed as a malignancy, or a malignancy may be deemed to be benign. How to avoid these types of mistakes is a continuing issue of concern to all doctors. Here, we report a case of small cell lung cancer misdiagnosed as an inflammatory myofibroblastic tumor. Fortunately, we performed a mediastinoscopy on the patient and discovered the actual pathologic condition. This case is presented to caution against the possibility of the misdiagnosis of uncommon diseases in clinical practice.