Pleuro-pulmonary blastoma: a case report and review of the literature.

Pleuro-pulmonary blastoma is a rare malignant lung tumor in children and distinct from ordinary pulmonary blastoma of adulthood. Combination chemotherapy plays an important role in the treatment of this tumor, but so far no attempt of high dose chemotherapy with subsequent bone marrow or blood stem cell transplantation has been published. The case is reported of a 2-year-old boy with pleuro-pulmonary blastoma who achieved partial remission with conventional chemotherapy and surgery. Subsequent administration of high dose melphalan, etoposide, and carboplatin, followed by autologous blood stem cell transplantation resulted in a 3-month disease-free interval but did not prevent eventual local recurrence, leading to death within a few weeks. Clinical presentation, pathology, management, and prognosis are discussed and the literature reviewed.