Spindle cell variant of pulmonary adenocarcinoma.

A 45-year-old male developed a transverse lesion of the spinal cord two years after resection of a pulmonary adenocarcinoma. Laminectomy revealed a spindle cell tumor, immunohistochemically considered as leiomyosarcoma. Autopsy disclosed a spindle cell variant of an adenocarcinoma of the lung. The present report demonstrates that spindle cell formations can be found not only in squamous cell carcinomas but also in adenocarcinomas of the lung, and that metastases may be composed of this spindle cell component only.