Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2015:2015:461420.
doi: 10.1155/2015/461420. Epub 2015 May 7.

An Unusual Location of Neuroendocrine Tumour: Primary Hepatic Origin

A Bahar Ceyran  1 , A Tarık Artış  2 , Serkan Şenol  1 , Bengü Çobanoğlu Şimşek  1
Affiliations

An Unusual Location of Neuroendocrine Tumour: Primary Hepatic Origin

A Bahar Ceyran et al. Case Rep Pathol. 2015.

Abstract

Although neuroendocrine tumours (NETs) of primary hepatic origin are extremely rare, most of NETs present with liver metastasis. When a NET is found in the liver, it must be treated to exclude metastasis from extrahepatic primary sites. The patient was a 38-year-old female. Abdominal ultrasound showed an 8 cm tumour in liver during a routine examination. Liver biopsy was done. The tumour was first considered a metastatic hepatic tumour on histopathological examination. No clues to the origin of a primary tumour were found. Upper and lower endoscopy of the GI tract and chest CT were performed to search for a primary tumour and were negative for any tumour. One month later, more extensive areas of the tumour were seen on histopathological examination of second liver biopsy with the same morphologic characteristics as the first biopsy. Immunohistochemically, there was positive staining for synaptophysin, CD 56, and S-100 in the tumour cells. These findings suggested the diagnosis of NET. The diagnosis of primary liver NET was considered in a multidisciplinary meeting. Then, left hepatectomy was performed. The final pathologic diagnosis of the tumour in the resected liver specimen was Grade II NET. The patient was doing well at postoperative 28-month follow-up.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
CT appearance of the tumor in the liver (CT image of hepatic mass).
Figure 2
Figure 2
Histopathologic appearance of tumoral lesion in first Tru-Cut biopsy. Microscopically, a tumor consists of epithelial cells with round, basophilic, uniform nucleus, inconspicuous nucleoli, and pale eosinophilic granulated cytoplasm. The architectural pattern was trabecular, ribbonlike, and partly acinar. No significant cytologic atypia, mitosis, and necrosis were present. H.E. ×200.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Gross appearance of the resected liver specimen.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Histopathologic appearance of tumoral lesion in the resected liver specimen. Microscopic characteristics are similar in first and second Tru-Cut biopsies. H.E. ×100.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Microscopic appearance of tumoral lesion in the resected liver specimen at higher magnification. H.E. ×400.
Figure 6
Figure 6
Diffuse, strong immunoreactivity for synaptophysin in tumor cells in the resected liver specimen. Immunohistochemical (IHC) staining, ×200.
Figure 7
Figure 7
Negative immunoreactivity for Heppar-1 in tumor cells; in contrast positive immunoreactivity occurs in normal liver cells in the resected liver specimen. IHC staining, ×40.
Figure 8
Figure 8
Ki 67 proliferation index is 5-6% in tumor cells. IHC staining, ×400.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Chen Z., Xiao H.-E., Ramchandra P., Huang H.-J. Imaging and pathological features of primary hepatic neuroendocrine carcinoma: an analysis of nine cases and review of the literature. Oncology Letters. 2014;7(4):956–962. doi: 10.3892/ol.2014.1844. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Bosman F. T., Carneiro F., Hruban R. H., Theise N. D. WHO Classification of Tumours of the Digestive System. 4th. Lyon, France: World Health Organization; 2010.
    1. Baek S. H., Yoon J. H., Kim K. W. Primary hepatic neuroendocrine tumor: gadoxetic acid (Gd-EOB-DTPA)-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging. Acta Radiologica Short Reports. 2013;2(2):p. 6. doi: 10.1177/2047981613482897. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Scarsbrook A. F., Ganeshan A., Statham J., et al. Anatomic and functional imaging of metastatic carcinoid tumors. Radiographics. 2007;27(2):455–476. doi: 10.1148/rg.272065058. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Koutsampasopoulos K., Antoniadou E., Zoutis S., Iacovidis G., Burova O., Taplidis A. Neuroendocrine tumor in the liver of a patient with isolated polycystic liver disease: a case report and review of the literature. Oncology Letters. 2013;5(5):1664–1666. doi: 10.3892/ol.2013.1233. - DOI - PMC - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources