Extragonadal germ-cell tumor: a rare differential diagnosis of a cervical lump in a young man.
In this case report, we discuss the potential diagnostic difficulty of identifying the cause or origin of a cervical swelling, a clinical situation often encountered in otolaryngology patients. A 30-year-old man came to us with a painless left cervical lump that he had noticed 8 weeks earlier. A series of examinations--including various biopsies, computed tomography, and extensive staging procedures--could not establish the diagnosis. We eventually identified the mass as an extragonadal germ-cell tumor. The diagnosis was established only after additional serologic testing and detection of tumor markers specific for extragonadal germ-cell tumor.
Department of Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, University Hospital Hamburg-Eppendorf, Martinistr. 52, 20246 Hamburg, Germany. brit_eickhoff@yahoo.com
Britta
B
Eickhoff
Michael
M
Jaehne
Florian
F
Langer
D000328:Adult; D000971:Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols / Q000008:administration & dosage; D001707:Biopsy, Needle; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D018237:Germinoma / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000473:pathology* / Q000628:therapy*; D006258:Head and Neck Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000473:pathology* / Q000628:therapy*; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008197:Lymph Node Excision; D008198:Lymph Nodes / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery; D008297:Male; D009333:Neck; D014055:Tomography, Emission-Computed; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed; D016896:Treatment Outcome