Mature Cystic Teratoma in the Anterior Mediastinum Containing a Carcinoid

Abstract

Mature teratomas are common neoplasms in the anterior mediastinum. However, a primary carcinoid tumor occurring in a mature teratoma is extremely rare. To our knowledge, there are only 2 published articles in the literature to date reporting a mature cystic teratoma of the mediastinum containing a carcinoid. We herein report another case of primary carcinoid tumor arising from a mature cystic teratoma in the anterior mediastinum.

Adenocarcinoma (Somatic-Type Malignancy) in Mature Teratoma of Anterior Mediastinum

“…Only one case of squamous cell carcinoma and three cases of carcinoid, arising sporadically, in mature teratoma of mediastinum have been reported in literature. 4,5 A review of the previous sporadic case Microscopically, most of the mass was composed of fibrocollagenous tissue with congested vessels and chronic inflammatory cells. In sections obtained from the ridge like elevation that was evident on gross examination, stratified squamous epithelium, cystic spaces lined by tall columnar ciliated epithelium and reports of mature teratoma with adenocarcinoma in the mediastinum is shown in the table.…”

Typical carcinoid arising in mature teratoma of anterior mediastinum

“…3 A neuroendocrine neoplasm arising within a mature teratoma of the mediastinum is rare with only 4 cases described so far in world literature. 2,[4][5][6] Of these, a case of goblet cell carcinoid in 68-year-old man and a typical carcinoid in a 39-year-old woman were documented in the English language literature. 2,5 Both of these patients had a slowly growing anterior mediastinal mass with no metastasis at the time of surgery.…”

“…2,[4][5][6] Of these, a case of goblet cell carcinoid in 68-year-old man and a typical carcinoid in a 39-year-old woman were documented in the English language literature. 2,5 Both of these patients had a slowly growing anterior mediastinal mass with no metastasis at the time of surgery. 2,5 Our patient presented with an anterior mediastinal mass, without any associated flushing, diarrhea, or abdominal cramps.…”

“…2,5 Both of these patients had a slowly growing anterior mediastinal mass with no metastasis at the time of surgery. 2,5 Our patient presented with an anterior mediastinal mass, without any associated flushing, diarrhea, or abdominal cramps. There was no evidence of an adnexal or retroperitoneal mass on abdominal radiological evaluation.…”

Germ Cell Origin of Testicular Carcinoid Tumors

“…Testicular carcinoids are typically encountered in a background of teratoma, a germ cell neoplasm that shares the same clonal origin with coexisting germ cell tumors, including embryonal carcinoma, yolk sac tumor, and choriocarcinoma (1,(17)(18)(19)(20)(21)(22)(23). Additionally, carcinoid tumor has been found as an element of teratomatous tumors in the mediastinum (22,23), kidney (19, 24 -27), retroperitoneum (28), and in sacrococcygeal teratomas in children (29,30). However, there is a paucity of evidence supporting the germ cell origin of testicular carcinoids; the only substantial evidence for this concept is the recent finding of OCT4 staining in a single case (4).…”