title: A rare case of primary nodal hemangioendothelioma.
abstract: Primary vascular tumors of the lymph nodes other than Kaposi's sarcoma are rare. The present study describes the case of a primary hemangioendothelioma in a cervical lymph node in a patient treated for a carcinoma of the large bowel. Microscopically, the structure of the lymph node was completely substituted by tumoral proliferation, with an architectural pattern consisting of anastomosing vascular channels, a number of which contained papillary projections or a tuft-like structure. This study demonstrates the potential diagnostic errors and hypothesizes the pathogenesis of this type of lesion; a vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)/VEGF receptor-3 (VEGFR-3) autocrine loop may be activated.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, School of Medicine, University Magna Graecia, Campus of Germaneto, Catanzaro I-88100, Italy.
authors.forename: Giuseppe
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Donato
authors.forename: Francesco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Conforti
authors.forename: Eugenia
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Allegra
keywords: hemangioendothelioma; lymph node; pathogenesis