Contralateral haemorrhagic pulmonary metastases ("choriocarcinoma syndrome") after pneumonectomy for primary pulmonary choriocarcinoma

Abstract

The case history is presented of a patient which illustrates both the diagnostic difficulties of an extremely rare tumour (choriocarcinoma of the lung) and its associated haemorrhagic metastases ("choriocarcinoma syndrome").

Extragonadal Nongestational Choriocarcinoma Involving the Lung: A Report of Three Cases

“…The most frequent presentation is that of a pulmonary mass with hemoptysis or chest pain, and dis tant métastasés (lung, brain and kidney) are commonly present [2][3][4][5][6][7], Two relevant characteristics of choriocarci noma are the constant elevation of serum B-HCG levels (which is useful for diagnostic, prognostic and follow-up pourposes) and the bleeding tendency of the primary and metastatic sites (the choriocarcinoma syndrome) [7,11]. The adverse prognosis of trophoblastic neoplasia and cho riocarcinoma has significantly improved since the intro- duction of chemotherapy [12].…”

“…extragonadal choriocarcinomas are even rarer, with a strong predilection for young males; most cases arise in midline structures (mediastinum, pineal gland, retroperitoneum), but have been occasional ly reported in other visceral locations (stomach, esopha gus, small bowel, prostate and urinary bladder) [1]. Iso lated descriptions (less than 20 patients) of primary cho riocarcinoma of the lung were reported in the literature [2][3][4][5][6][7], We reviewed the case records of 3 female patients with extragonadal, nongestational choriocarcinoma ap parently arising in the lung, who were treated at our insti tution between 1988 and 1994. Two of the cases were his tologically proven choriocarcinomas, and the third one had clinical features and serum B-HCG levels compatible with this neoplasm.…”

Primary pulmonary choriocarcinoma in a male that was successfully diagnosed and treated

“…The diagnosis is usually delayed until the patient is in the middle-late stage of the disease. Distant metastases are observed in many cases [11–12,14,16,19,23–25] at the time of diagnosis, and the overall prognosis is extremely poor. A total of 18 patients have data about their treatment: 6 patients were treated with surgery and chemotherapy; 4 were treated with chemotherapy alone; 2 were treated with surgery, chemotherapy, and radiotherapy; 1 was treated with surgery and radiotherapy; 2 were treated with surgery alone; and 3 patients did not receive treatment and died quickly.…”

Primary choriocarcinoma and human chorionic gonadotrophin‐producing giant cell carcinoma of the lung: are they independent entities?

“…Because of the rarity and the clinicopathological similarity of PCC and hCG-producing GCC, [4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32] the criteria for distinguishing them are unclear. Thus, differential diagnosis has been very difficult.…”

“…In particular, small-cell carcinoma of the lung often induces paraneoplastic syndromes by producing hormonal factors. [4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22] A diagnosis of PCC should be made carefully. Human chorionic gonadotrophin (hCG) is one of the most common hormones produced by pulmonary carcinomas, 1-3 but clinical findings and problems associated with the hormone are not so frequent.…”