BACKGROUND: Lung cancer in young patients is quite uncommon; clinical presentation and outcome in this population compared to the older group are not yet well defined and data about this setting are mostly single-institutional retrospective analyses.

CASE REPORT: We report here a case of a very young woman with diagnosis of early-stage lung adenocarcinoma harboring EML4-ALK rearrangement; she underwent radical surgery and adjuvant chemotherapy according to the pathologic stage. Potential risk factors for lung cancer in our patient are discussed and clinico-pathologic features and outcomes of lung cancer in the young population compared to the elderly are reviewed through discussing studies with sample sizes larger than 100 patients.

CONCLUSIONS: A wide clinical overview should be performed when lung cancer is diagnosed in a young patient. Large-population studies are required to define the molecular signature and clinical behavior of lung cancer in young patients.

Keywords: DNA, Neoplasm - analysis, Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung - surgery, Gene Rearrangement, genetic testing, Lung Neoplasms - surgery, Oncogene Proteins, Fusion - metabolism, Pneumonectomy, Thoracic Surgery, Video-Assisted, Tomography, X-Ray Computed, young adult