Gene Mutation Analysis in Determining Late Recurrence of Adenocarcinoma of the Lung

A patient was found to have a new pleural lesion 14 years after undergoing complete resection of primary lung cancer. Histologic and genetic analysis of the previously resected specimen and the samples obtained of a newly performed biopsy confirmed that the tumors were identical, and the recurrence of lung cancer was determined. This case is instructive because of the rather long interval between the resection of the initial tumor and the recurrence and because of the presence of validated proof of recurrence by both clinical features and genetic analysis.