Paratesticular serous papillary carcinoma. A report of six cases

Abstract

Six intrascrotal, invasive epithelial neoplasms of serous papillary type arose in the paratesticular region of patients 16 to 42 (mean, 30.8) years of age. Five patients, one with an associated hydrocele, presented with a testicular mass and one with a hydrocele only. The serum CA-125 level was elevated in one of the two patients in whom it was measured. Grossly, the tumors were solid, white, or tan, poorly circumscribed, often gritty masses. Four tumors involved primarily the soft tissue between the testis and epididymis (testiculoepididymal groove) and one, the paratesticular soft tissue. The sixth tumor was confined to the visceral tunica vaginalis at the inferior pole of the testis. The most common microscopic pattern was characterized by invasive, well-formed papillae lined by serous cuboidal or columnar cells with eosinophilic cytoplasm and malignant nuclear features. Psammoma bodies were abundant in all the cases. Areas of borderline serous tumor were present in two tumors and predominated in one. Five of five tumors were positive for keratin (AE1/3), S-100, epithelial membrane antigen, and Ber-EP4; three of five for Leu M1 and B72.3; two of five for carcinoembryonic antigen and placental alkaline phosphatase; and one in five for vimentin. Ultrastructural examination in one case demonstrated gland formation with delicate luminal microvilli and cilia. Follow-up information was available in five cases: Three patients are without evidence of disease after relatively short postoperative intervals of 1, 1, and 3 years, although one of these patients has had a persistently elevated CA-125 level. Two patients had recurrence of their tumors 4 and 7 years after diagnosis, one with diffuse abdominal spread, the other in a cervical lymph node. The latter patient died of his disease 5 years after diagnosis.