Titanium dioxide deposition and adenocarcinoma of the lung

A case of titanium dioxide pneumoconiosis accompanied by lung cancer is reported. The patient was a fifty-three-year-old male, who was engaged in packing titanium dioxide for about thirteen years. At autopsy, a papillary adenocarcinoma was located in the right lung. Titanium was diffusely deposited in the lung and was engulfed by macrophages in the interstitium and alveolar spaces. Slight fibrosis of the interstitium around bronchioles and vessels was noticed as an effect of titanium deposition.