Primary adenosquamous carcinoma of liver resected by right trisegmentectomy: report of a case and review of the literature

Abstract

A case of primary adenosquamous carcinoma of the liver in a patient with an elevated level of serum squamous cell carcinoma-related antigen is reported. A 68-year-old man was admitted to our hospital with a 10-day history of fever and jaundice. From the results of laboratory and imaging studies before surgery, a diagnosis of cholangiocellular carcinoma was made, and the patient underwent right trisegmentectomy with regional lymph node dissection. Histopathological examination of the resected specimen revealed adenocarcinoma, squamous cell carcinoma, and a transitional area containing both types of cancer cells. The number of argyrophilic nucleolar organizer regions and the labeling index of proliferating cell nuclear antigen were markedly elevated and the deoxyribonucleic acid ploidy pattern was aneuploid in the squamous component. The patient died due to liver metastases 3 months after the operation. We reviewed the 31 cases of adenosquamous carcinoma of the liver reported in the Japanese and English language literature, including the present case.