Primary neuroendocrine tumor in the liver treated by hepatectomy: report of a case

Primary hepatic neuroendocrine tumor with a suspicious pulmonary nodule: A case report and literature review

BACKGROUND

Primary hepatic neuroendocrine tumors (PHNETs) are extremely rare tumors originating from neuroendocrine cells. Due to lack of neuroendocrine symptoms and specific radiographic characteristics, PHNETs are challenging to differentiate from other liver tumors.

CASE SUMMARY

This case involved a 67-year-old male who was admitted with a discovered hepatic mass and a suspicious lung lesion. Primary hepatic carcinoma was initially speculated based on the characteristic magnetic resonance imaging findings. The patient underwent a laparoscopic right partial hepatectomy, and subsequent immunohistochemical examination revealed a HNET. To exclude other potential origins, a positron emission tomography-computed tomography scan and gastrointestinal endoscopy were performed, leading to a final diagnosis of PHNETs. Then we conducted a literature review using the PubMed database, identifying 99 articles and 317 cases related to PHNETs. The characteristics, diagnostic methods, and treatment of PHNETs have been described. Finally, we elaborate on the presumed origins, pathological grades, clinical features, diagnosed methods, and treatments associated with PHNETs.

CONCLUSION

The diagnosis of PHNETs was primarily an exclusionary process. A definitive diagnosis of PHNETs relied mainly on immunohistochemical markers (chromogranin A, synaptophysin, and cluster of differentiation 56) and exclusion of primary foci in other organs. Radical surgery was the preferred treatment for early-stage tumors.

Primary hepatic origin of a neuroendocrine tumor: A rare case report

Introduction

Neuroendocrine tumors are mainly located in gastrointestinal tract, pancreas and lungs. The primary hepatic origin of neuroendocrine tumors is extremely rare.

Case presentation

A 57-year-old female with a history of cholecystectomy presented to our hospital for right upper abdominal pain lasting for 2 months. Abdominal computed tomography revealed a large exophytic soft-tissue mass in the left liver lobe. Tumor markers were within the normal range. Octreoscan confirmed the primary hepatic origin of neuroendocrine tumor. The patient underwent left hepatic resection. Pathological and immunohistochemical examination of the resected specimen showed a well-differentiated grade 2 neuroendocrine tumor.

Clinical discussion

Primary hepatic neuroendocrine tumors represent rare hepatic tumors. These tumors may occur at any age with an average of 50 years. Diagnosis algorithm includes two key steps: firstly, the confirmation of the endocrine nature of the tumor and secondly the confirmation of its primary nature.

Conclusion

Neuroendocrine tumors are a very rare entity. The primary hepatic location is exceptional. The diagnosis is based on pathological and immunohistochemical examination as well as the result of the octreoscan.

A case of primary hepatic mixed neuroendocrine-non-neuroendocrine tumor (MiNEN) associated with gallbladder carcinosarcoma

A woman in her seventies visited our hospital because of abdominal pain. Multiple hepatic tumors were detected and a liver biopsy revealed mixed neuroendocrine-non-neuroendocrine neoplasm (MiNEN), which was composed of cholangiocellular carcinoma and neuroendocrine tumor (NET). Diagnostic imaging ruled out primary malignancies other than the liver and identified that the tumor originated from the liver. Because a predominant and aggressive part of the tumor was considered to be cholangiocellular carcinoma, gemcitabine and S-1 were used as first-line treatment. After the treatment, octreotide acetate was administered for the NET component, followed by transcatheter arterial embolization. Subsequently, her gallbladder (GB) rapidly swelled with biliary tract obstruction, and cholecystectomy revealed carcinosarcoma of the GB. She is still undergoing treatment at 44 months after diagnosis. Herein we report this case of primary hepatic MiNEN consisting of cholangiocarcinoma and NET, followed by GB carcinosarcoma. This is the first case illustrating that a multidisciplinary treatment approach for MiNEN accompanied with carcinosarcoma, involving assessment and treatment targeting the most aggressive component, can result in a long survival time.

Histological features of mixed neuroendocrine carcinoma and hepatocellular carcinoma in the liver: a case report and literature review

Primary hepatic neuroendocrine carcinoma (NEC) is rare, and its origin, clinical features, diagnosis and treatment have not been clarified. Primary mixed NEC and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is even rarer and is divided into either combined type or collision type. We report a patient with the combined type of mixed NEC and HCC. A 72-year-old male was diagnosed with HCC and underwent hepatectomy because of the presence of two tumors in his liver. Histological examination demonstrated that one of the tumors had both NEC and HCC components. The transitional zone was noted in the immunohistological examination, and the tumor was determined to be the combined type of primary mixed NEC and HCC. This was the first description of an HCC component being found in an NEC-dominant area in a primary mixed NEC and HCC tumor. Three weeks after hepatectomy, an abdominal computed tomography scan showed extensive regional and para-aortic lymphadenopathy, and early relapse was suspected in the patient. The patient died 3 months after the operation despite treatment with combination chemotherapy. This report describes an unfavorable case and summarizes all the primary mixed NEC and HCC tumor cases that have been previously reported.

Primary hepatic neuroendocrine tumor: A case report

We herein present a case of an 87-year-old patient with multiple liver tumors identified on abdominal ultrasound. The assessment performed on admission included physical examination, computed tomography (CT) during hepatic angiography and CT during arterial portography. The examination revealed contrast enhancement of a proportion of the liver tumors (20 mm maximum diameter) during the arterial phase and mild contrast washout of those tumors during the delayed phase. On contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging using gadolinium ethoxybenzyl diethylenetriamine pentaacetic acid, certain liver tumors exhibited contrast enhancement during the early phase and contrast washout during the hepatocyte phase in both lobes. By contrast, no lesions were identified during positron emission tomography imaging of the liver. A liver biopsy was performed and immunohistochemical staining revealed enhanced expression of cytokeratin AE1/AE3, synaptophysin, chromogranin A and CD56 and no expression of hepatocyte antigen or CΚ7. The mindbomb E3 ubiquitin protein ligase-1 index was ~2% in most of the tumor. The liver tumors were finally diagnosed as multiple intrahepatic metastases from a primary hepatic neuroendocrine tumor (PHNET). The patient underwent transarterial chemoembolisation with a combination of miriplatin (84 mg) mixed with gelatin sponge particles and lipiodol. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of PHNET in an patient aged >85 years.

Primary hepatic neuroendocrine carcinoma with a cholangiocellular carcinoma component in one nodule

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.

Neuroendocrine differentiation in embryonal type hepatoblastoma

Hepatoblastoma, a malignant tumor which arises occasionally in older children but very rarely in adults, exhibits divergent differentiation with embryonal cells, fetal hepatocytes and immature elements. This report describes an embryonal type hepatoblastoma with neuroendocrine differentiation in a 16-year-old patient, which was diagnosed postoperatively. Clinical and radiologic work-up failed to reveal a primary gastrointestinal malignancy and no primary lesions were detected in any other organ. This feature of hepatoblastoma is considered to be a multidirectional differentiation of the small epithelial or stem cells of the liver. At 2-year follow up, the patient remains symptom-free, with normal laboratory and diagnostic imaging studies, and no recurrent or metastatic disease identified.

Primary hepatic neuroendocrine carcinoma

A 67-year-old woman was admitted to our hospital under suspicion of a hepatic tumor, which had been previously diagnosed to be an adenocarcinoma by fine needle aspiration. Computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging revealed a large tumor measuring 9 cm in diameter in Couinaud's hepatic segments 4, 5, and 8. We diagnosed the patient to have primary liver cancer, and suspected intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma preoperatively. We performed a central hepatectomy. According to the immunohistochemical findings of the resected specimen, the tumor was diagnosed to be a primary neuroendocrine carcinoma in the liver. The patient is presently alive without recurrence at 3 months after hepatic resection.

Elevated serum levels of Chromogranin A in hepatocellular carcinoma

Background

During the past three decades, the incidence of hepatocellular carcinoma in the United States has tripled. The neuroendocrine character has been observed in some tumor cells within some hepatocellular carcinoma nodules and elevated serum chromogranin A also been reported in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma. The aim of this work was to investigate the role of serum concentration of chromogranin A in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma at different stages.

Methods

The study population consisted of 96 patients (63 males and 33 females age range 52-84) at their first hospital admission for hepatocellular carcinoma. The control group consisted of 35 volunteers (20 males and 15 females age range 50-80). The hepatocellular carcinoma patients were stratified according the Barcelona-Clinic Liver Cancer classification. Venous blood samples were collected before treatment from each patients before surgery, centrifuged to obtain serum samples and stored at -80° C until assayed.

Results

The chromogranin A serum levels were elevated (> 100 ng/ml) in 72/96 patients with hepatocellular carcinoma. The serum levels of chromogranin A were significantly correlated (p<0.05) with alpha-fetoprotein. In comparison with controls, the hepatocellular carcinoma patients showed a significant increase (p<0.001) vs controls. The chromogranin A levels in the Barcelona staging of hepatocellular carcinoma was higher in stage D compared to stage C (p<0.01), to stage B (p<0.001), and to stage A (p<0.001).

Conclusions

Molecular markers, such as chromogranin A, could be very useful tools for hepatocellular carcinoma diagnosis. However the molecular classification should be incorporated into a staging scheme, which effectively separated patients into groups with homogeneous prognosis and response to treatment, and thus serves to aid in the selection of appropriate therapy.