An Unusual Case of Primary Retroperitoneal Germ Cell Tumour in a Young Man

  • Maria João Raposo Linhares Serpa Internal Medicine Department, Hospital Beatriz Ângelo, Lisbon, Portugal
  • Susana Franco Internal Medicine Department, Hospital Beatriz Ângelo, Lisbon, Portugal
  • Diana Repolho Internal Medicine Department, Hospital Beatriz Ângelo, Lisbon, Portugal
  • Francisco Branco Oncology Department, Hospital Beatriz Ângelo, Lisbon, Portugal
  • João Gramaça Oncology Department, Hospital Beatriz Ângelo, Lisbon, Portugal
  • José Ferreira Júnior Internal Medicine Department, Hospital Beatriz Ângelo, Lisbon, Portugal
DOI: https://doi.org/10.12890/2018_000900

Keywords

Neoplasms, germ cell and embryonal, male germ cell tumor, extragonadal, non-seminomatous, yolk-sac tumour, alpha-fetoproteins

Abstract

Some 2–5% of germ cell tumours are of extragonadal origin, with a retroperitoneal location being very rare. The majority of retroperitoneal germ cell tumours have metastasized from a testicular tumour. These tumours are diagnosed incidentally or symptomatically and nearly all present with high alpha-fetoprotein and lactate dehydrogenase levels.
We describe the unusual case of a 31-year-old man with a yolk-sac, retroperitoneal germ cell tumour, with normal serum alpha-fetoprotein and lactate dehydrogenase levels, which has not previously been described. A testicular tumour was excluded by physical examination and additional tests. Our diagnosis was based on a high level of suspicion and histopathological results. As far as we know, this is the first case described with these characteristics.

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    • Published: 2018-05-29

    Issue: Vol 5 No 7 (view)

    Section: Articles

    How to cite:
    1.
    Serpa MJRL, Franco S, Repolho D, Branco F, Gramaça J, Júnior JF. An Unusual Case of Primary Retroperitoneal Germ Cell Tumour in a Young Man. EJCRIM 2018;5 doi:10.12890/2018_000900.

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