title: An unexpected reason for elevated human chorionic gonadotropin in a young woman. Cervical squamous carcinoma.
abstract: Human chorionic gonadotropin has been used for decades, in addition to specific investigations, to detect pregnancy, trophoblastic tumors, as well as congenital defects. Rarely, it can be elevated in  non-trophoblastic tumors such as squamous cell cancers and germ cell tumors. A 33-year-old Asian Syrian female had irregular menses accompanied with feelings of heaviness in the vagina. In addition to routine investigations, we measured the serum beta human chorionic gonadotropin (ß-HCG) level (based on the patient's complaint of amenorrhea), which was 50.05 ml UI/ml. Cervical biopsy revealed a non-keratinized large cell squamous carcinoma. After excluding other causes, ß-hCG elevation was explained by the ectopic secretion of cancer cells line. Cervical biopsy was suggestive of large cell non-keratinizing squamous cell carcinoma and positive for human chorionic gonadotropin on immunohistochemistry. As a result, we manage the possibility of ectopic secretion of ß-HCG from non- trophoblastic disease.
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Medical School, Gaziantep University, Gaziantep, Turkey. E-mail. Dr.aynur.moustafa@hotmail.com.
authors.forename: Aynur
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mustafa
authors.forename: Zehra
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Bozdag
authors.forename: Neslihan B
authors.initials: NB
authors.lastname: Tepe
authors.forename: Husiyen C
authors.initials: HC
authors.lastname: Ozcan
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001706:Biopsy; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000097:blood* / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology; D002584:Cervix Uteri / Q000473:pathology; D018997:Chorionic Gonadotropin, beta Subunit, Human / Q000097:blood*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed; D002583:Uterine Cervical Neoplasms / Q000097:blood* / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology
chemical_list: D018997:Chorionic Gonadotropin, beta Subunit, Human