When a Pulmonary Nodule Mimics Malignancy: Primary Granular Cell Tumor of the Lung

Pulmonary nodules detected in patients with a history of malignancy are often clinically presumed to represent metastatic disease until proven otherwise. Granular cell tumor (GCT) is an uncommon, usually benign neoplasm of presumed Schwannian origin, which rarely occurs in the lung. Our aim is to emphasize the diagnostic challenges and the crucial role of histopathology in preventing overtreatment in oncology patients. Herein, we report the case of a 56-year-old woman with a previous history of papillary renal cell carcinoma diagnosed one year earlier, staged as pT1, WHO/ISUP grade 2, and treated with partial nephrectomy, with no evidence of residual disease or distant metastases at follow-up. During routine surveillance, she developed a solitary pulmonary nodule. Chest computed tomography (CT) showed a 12 mm solid nodule in the left upper lobe which was then further investigated with a positron emission tomography with 2-[18F] fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose [(18F)-FDG PET/CT, revealing a low glucidic uptake (SUVmax 4 and SUV mean 1.4). Endobronchial ultrasound-guided biopsy was non-diagnostic. Given the patient’s oncological history, the solid appearance on CT, and the mild FDG uptake, metastatic disease could not be excluded, and a parenchyma-sparing diagnostic wedge resection was performed. Histology showed a well-circumscribed proliferation of epithelioid cells with abundant granular eosinophilic cytoplasm and bland nuclei. Immunohistochemistry demonstrated diffuse S100 and CD68 positivity, supporting the diagnosis of primary pulmonary granular cell tumor. This case underscores the critical role of histopathological evaluation in the assessment of solitary pulmonary nodules, emphasizing that lesions identified during oncologic surveillance are not invariably indicative of malignancy.