[A patient with an alpha-foetoprotein producing tumour].
A 45-year-old Turkish man presented with a chronic hepatitis B virus infection, a nodular lesion in the liver and a highly elevated serum alpha-foetoprotein (AFP) concentration. Ultrasound and MRI showed multiple focal liver lesions and a thickened wall of the gastro-oesophageal junction. Biopsies taken from both sites showed stomach type mucosa with a poorly differentiated adenocarcinoma and AFP positive tumour cells. The diagnosis was hepatoid adenocarcinoma of the stomach. The authors' conclusion is that an elevated serum AFP concentration in a patient with chronic hepatitis B and a nodular lesion in the liver is not diagnostic for a hepatocellular carcinoma. AFP measurement should not be used as a screening method for this type of cancer.
Afd. Maag-, Darm- en Leverziekten, Erasmus MC, Rotterdam, The Netherlands. a.vanroon@erasmusmc.nl
Aafke H C
AH
van Roon
Pieter C J
PC
ter Borg
Pieter E
PE
Zondervan
Hans
H
Stoop
Robert A
RA
de Man
D000230:Adenocarcinoma / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology*; D006528:Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / Q000473:pathology / Q000556:secondary; D017809:Fatal Outcome; D006801:Humans; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology / Q000556:secondary; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D013274:Stomach Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology*; D000509:alpha-Fetoproteins / Q000096:biosynthesis*
D000509:alpha-Fetoproteins