{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,28]],"date-time":"2026-10-28T12:07:29Z","timestamp":1793189249532,"version":"4.5.0"},"reference-count":42,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,27]],"date-time":"2026-02-27T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1772150400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Med."],"abstract":"<jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Background<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Infection with non-tuberculous mycobacterium species commonly can present with lung nodules mimicking lung cancer on routine chest imaging, leading to unnecessary invasive procedures.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Case series<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>\n                      The authors report three representative cases presenting with minimal or no symptoms where an incidental probable\n                      <jats:italic>Mycobacterium avium<\/jats:italic>\n                      complex (MAC) infection was discovered, mandating evaluation for a potential malignancy. After suspecting that the nodules were likely infectious, the patients were empirically treated with azithromycin alone or in combination with other antibiotics, resulting in an improved appearance of these nodules on radiographic imaging in size, density, or both, documenting an infectious etiology, thereby preventing more invasive studies and\/or surgery.\n                    <\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Conclusion<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>These cases represent typical examples of an increasingly common infection that can be mistaken for lung cancer, particularly in endemic areas such as the Southeast United States. Infectious etiologies, especially non-tuberculous mycobacteria, are capable of mimicking lung cancer. An empiric, 3-month course of azithromycin for suspected MAC lung infection resulting in significant nodule size reduction verifies that it is infectious and not malignant, thereby preventing invasive, potentially morbid, and expensive evaluations, including unnecessary surgery.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.3389\/fmed.2026.1721002","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,27]],"date-time":"2026-02-27T06:51:31Z","timestamp":1772175091000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":2,"title":["Mycobacterium avium complex lung infection mimics lung cancer nodules but improves after antibiotic therapy: a case series"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"13","author":[{"given":"Derek","family":"Jacobs","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"University of South Florida Morsani College of Medicine","place":["Tampa, FL, United States"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"John","family":"Greene","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Division of Infectious Diseases and Tropical Medicine, Moffitt Cancer Center","place":["Tampa, FL, United States"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Lary A.","family":"Robinson","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Division of Thoracic Oncology, Moffitt Cancer Center","place":["Tampa, FL, United States"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,27]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"264","DOI":"10.1001\/jama.2021.24287","article-title":"Evaluating the patient with a pulmonary nodule: a review","volume":"327","author":"Mazzone","year":"2022","journal-title":"JAMA"},{"key":"ref2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"2094","DOI":"10.1200\/JCO.21.02496","article-title":"Lung Cancer diagnosed through screening, lung nodule, and neither program: a prospective observational study of the detecting early lung Cancer (DELUGE) in the Mississippi Delta cohort","volume":"40","author":"Osarogiagbon","year":"2022","journal-title":"J Clin Oncol"},{"key":"ref3","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"220","DOI":"10.21037\/tlcr.2018.05.06","article-title":"The epidemiology of lung cancer","volume":"7","author":"de Groot","year":"2018","journal-title":"Transl Lung Cancer Res"},{"key":"ref4","first-page":"181","article-title":"Infectious pulmonary nodules mimicking lung carcinoma","volume":"21","author":"Allison","year":"2004","journal-title":"Inf Med"},{"key":"ref5","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"e3978","DOI":"10.1097\/MD.0000000000003978","article-title":"Nontuberculous mycobacterial pulmonary disease mimicking lung cancer: clinicoradiologic features and diagnostic implications","volume":"95","author":"Hong","year":"2016","journal-title":"Medicine (Baltimore)"},{"key":"ref6","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1605","DOI":"10.1378\/chest.101.6.1605","article-title":"Mycobacterium avium complex pulmonary disease presenting as an isolated lingular or middle lobe pattern. 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