palatine tonsillar metastasis of small-cell neuroendocrine carcinoma from the lung detected by fdg-pet/ct after tonsillectomy: a case report

metastasis from a malignant tumor to the palatine tonsils is rare, accounting for only 0.8% of all tonsillar tumors, with only 100 cases reported in the english-language literature. various malignant lung carcinomas may metastasize to the tonsils. a few cases of tonsillar metastasis from neuroendocrine lung carcinoma have been reported. a 67-year-old female underwent a right tonsillectomy because of a sore throat and an enlarged right tonsil. the postoperative pathology showed right tonsillar small cell neuroendocrine carcinoma (scnc). fluorodeoxyglucose (fdg) positron emission tomography (pet)/computed tomography (ct) demonstrated metabolic activity in the lower lobe of the right lung. in addition, hypermetabolic foci were noted in the lymph nodes of the right neck and mediastinum. a needle biopsy of the pulmonary mass showed scnc. the patient received chemotherapy and died of multiple distant metastases after 6 months. this is the first report using pet/ct to evaluate tonsillar metastasis from lung scnc.