the breast ). All metastatic tumors are malignant . In children , most chest wall tumors are primary , while they are more often metastatic in adults . Primary tumors start in the bones or muscles located in the chest wall .
Sarcomas — tumors that start in bone or muscle tissue , or more rarely in other types of tissue — are the most common type of primary tumor found in the chest wall .
Metastasized Cancer
Some cancers in the lung are the result of pulmonary metastasis — cancer that began in another part of the body and spread to the lung through the lymphatic system or bloodstream . Almost any cancer can metastasize to the lung . Some cancers that often spread to the lung are :
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Bladder cancer Breast cancer Colon cancer Kidney cancer Neuroblastoma Prostate cancer Sarcoma Wilms ' tumor
Rare Cancer Types
Carcinoid Tumors
Carcinoid tumors are rare cancers that most often appear in the stomach or intestines . However , they sometimes start in the lung . Carcinoid tumors can be classified as either typical or atypical .
� Typical carcinoids grow slowly and don ' t often spread beyond the lungs . Nine out of 10 lung carcinoids are typical carcinoids .
� Atypical carcinoids grow faster and are slightly more likely to spread outside the lungs .
Carcinoid tumors are also sometimes categorized by where they start in the lung :
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Central carcinoids form in the bronchi , which are the large airways located near the center of the lungs . Most lung carcinoid tumors start there . These carcinoids are almost always typical carcinoids . Peripheral carcinoids develop in the smaller airways on the edges of the lungs and they too are almost always typical carcinoids .
Lung carcinoid tumors are most often treated by surgery . Chemotherapy and radiation therapy may be used as adjunct therapies or if surgery is not possible .
Mediastinal Tumors
Mediastinal tumors are rare tumors that develop in the mediastinum , the area of the chest that separates the lungs . It is surrounded by the breastbone in front and spine in the back .