What happened, in summary

A 54-year-old woman was found to have several right-lung nodules during a routine examination in October 2020. Imaging raised concern that the nodules might represent lung cancer with intrapulmonary spread, but the findings were not definitive.

She underwent video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery with lobectomy and mediastinal lymph-node dissection. Pathology showed that one right-lower-lobe nodule was invasive lung adenocarcinoma with acinar features, while another nodule was granulomatous inflammation caused by Cryptococcus. No cancer was found in the lymph nodes. She declined additional molecular testing.

She received antifungal treatment for the cryptococcal infection, which is kept separate from her cancer treatment. Over three years of follow-up through September 2023, she remained in good condition and imaging showed no recurrence of the lung cancer.