Paraganglioma of the lung--developed after exposure to nuclear radiation by the Tschernobyl atomic reactor accident?

A 36-year-old Russian patient had been exposed to severe nuclear radiation during the Tschernobyl accident and developed Cushing's syndrome in September 1991. After bilateral adrenalectomy a small centrally localized lung tumor in the left segment S6 was diagnosed, and the syndrome was correlated to primary lung cancer. Thoracotomy and resection of the segments S6 revealed a primary ACTH-producing lung tumor of the cell type of a paraganglioma. The patient lost his symptoms after curative tumor resection. The case is discussed under the aspects of tumor etiology, its clinical course and immunohistochemical findings.