Simultaneous occurrence of pulmonary interstitial fibrosis and alveolar cell carcinoma in one family.

The coexistence of interstitial pulmonary fibrosis and alveolar cell carcinoma is well known. The familial occurrence of a combination of these two entities, however, is very rare. We present a family of which five members had diffuse interstitial pulmonary fibrosis. Three of them had in addition alveolar cell carcinoma. In a sixth family member, evidence of alveolar cell carcinoma was present without proven interstitial fibrosis. An autosomal dominant trait is suggested as the mode of inheritance of both interstitial fibrosis and alveolar cell carcinoma in this family.