title: Primary hepatic neuroendocrine carcinoma with a cholangiocellular carcinoma component in one nodule.
abstract: Primary neuroendocrine carcinomas (NECs) in the liver are very rare; however, several reports have described cases of a primary hepatic NEC combined with a hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). We present the first report of a primary hepatic NEC with a cholangiocellular carcinoma (CCC) component in one nodule in a patient with a metachronous liver HCC. A 73-year old man who had received partial hepatectomy surgery because of a primary HCC and a primary CCC two years prior was diagnosed with a primary hepatic NEC after surgical treatment. Histological analysis of the resected tumor revealed that the tumor consisted of a predominant NEC area with a partial CCC component in one nodule and that the NEC cells were negative for markers of pancreatic NEC. Neoplastic cells in both the NEC and CCC component focally expressed CD44, a representative marker for cancer-initiating cells, and the CD44-positive cells in the NEC component were seen in the vicinity of those in the CCC component of one nodule. This case report provides suggestive information for the origin of primary hepatic NECs.
authors.affiliation: Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Tokyo Medical and Dental University, 1-5-45 Yushima, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, 1138519, Japan.
authors.forename: Yoshihito
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kano
authors.forename: Sei
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kakinuma
authors.forename: Fumio
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Goto
authors.forename: Seishin
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Azuma
authors.forename: Yuki
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Nishimura-Sakurai
authors.forename: Yasuhiro
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Itsui
authors.forename: Mina
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nakagawa
authors.forename: Atsushi
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kudo
authors.forename: Minoru
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tanabe
authors.forename: Susumu
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kirimura
authors.forename: Tomonori
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Amano
authors.forename: Takashi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ito
authors.forename: Takumi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Akashi
authors.forename: Yasuhiro
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Asahina
authors.forename: Mamoru
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Watanabe
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D001650:Bile Duct Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology*; D001653:Bile Ducts, Intrahepatic; D006528:Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / Q000473:pathology*; D018278:Carcinoma, Neuroendocrine / Q000473:pathology*; D018281:Cholangiocarcinoma / Q000473:pathology*; D006801:Humans; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology*; D008297:Male; D009378:Neoplasms, Multiple Primary / Q000473:pathology*