Pinealoblastoma in a patient with familial adenomatous polyposis: variant of Turcot syndrome type 2? Report of a case and review of the literature

Abstract

We report a case of a 23-year-old Turcot female patient who was first diagnosed as having a pinealoblastoma. Thyroid papillary carcinoma was diagnosed a few months later, and multiple colonic polyps were detected three years after that. A genetic workup revealed an APC gene mutation in her family. Long-term survival (i.e., >5 years) of pinealoblastoma is considered to be 20 percent. A review of 25 documented Turcot cases determined that the average age at death is 20.3 years, raising the difficult question of whether she should undergo restorative proctocolectomy. Restorative proctocolectomy may itself cause major morbidity but is currently the only way to prevent colon cancer.