title: Primary peritoneal anaplastic giant cell carcinoma: case report of an unusual and highly malignant müllerian neoplasm.
abstract: Virtually all primary peritoneal carcinomas (PPCs) are of serous papillary type. We report an unusual histologic type of PPC composed of anaplastic giant cells, which exhibited an aggressive clinical course. A 72-year-old woman presented with lower abdominal pain. Computed tomography showed a diffuse omental thickening. The patient underwent an exploratory laparotomy with omentectomy, total hysterectomy, bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy, and appendectomy. Pathologic examination revealed extensive omental replacement by tumor but only superficial surface cortical involvement of both ovaries, a disease distribution consistent with a typical müllerian-derived PPC. However, this neoplasm was composed of diffuse anaplastic tumor giant cells, rather than serous carcinoma, which is the usual histologic type encountered in PPC. The patient died within 1 month after surgery. We report this unusual histologic variant of PPC to raise awareness that anaplastic giant cell carcinoma may arise in the pelvic peritoneum as a primary tumor.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Women & Infants Hospital of Rhode Island, Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University, Providence, RI, USA.
authors.forename: Xian
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.forename: Cunxian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Fang
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: C James
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Sung
authors.forename: Margaret M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Steinhoff
authors.forename: W Dwayne
authors.initials: WD
authors.lastname: Lawrence
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000032:analysis; D018286:Carcinoma, Giant Cell / Q000737:chemistry / Q000473:pathology* / Q000628:therapy; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy; D017809:Fatal Outcome; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D009095:Mullerian Ducts / Q000473:pathology*; D010534:Peritoneal Neoplasms / Q000737:chemistry / Q000473:pathology* / Q000628:therapy
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor