The Frequency and Histology of Hepatic Tissue in Germ Cell Tumors

Hepatoid carcinoma of the pancreas

“…AFP, a known tumor marker for HCC and extragonadal germ cell tumor (EGCT), 1,7,8 has been found to be elevated in the serum levels of 34 of 38 reported cases and positive for tissue stains in 45 of 59 reported cases of gastric hepatoids. However, AFP production also can be present in nonhepatoid tumors including pancreatic ductal carcinoma, acinar cell carcinoma, islet cell tumor, and poorly differentiated malignancies.…”

“…Foci of hepatic tissues were observed in 9.3% cases of EGCT; some were reported in the retroperitoneal area, which is the anatomic region of the pancreas. 8 However, retroperitoneal EGCT generally were observed in younger patients (ages 4 days-17 years). 8 Histologically, diagnosis would be facilitated by seeking the more differentiated area comprised of cells with abundant eosinophilic cytoplasm more typ- ical of hepatoid carcinoma.…”

Germ cell tumors of the gonads: a selective review emphasizing problems in differential diagnosis, newly appreciated, and controversial issues

“…119,120 Hepatoid differentiation, usually scattered, small clusters of polygonal cells with abundant eosinophilic cytoplasm and prominent nucleoli, is common in yolk sac tumors, occurring in 22% of cases in one series 115 and is infrequently seen in other ovarian tumors. 121 Rarely, there is a predominant or pure hepatoid pattern ( Figure 19); 122,123 in males prominent hepatoid differentiation is almost always seen in metastatic lesions resected after chemotherapy, particularly in the context of late recurrence, 117 rather than in the primary. For pure or predominantly hepatoid ovarian yolk sac tumors, the differential includes the rare hepatoid carcinoma.…”

Mediastinal Yolk Sac Tumor Producing Protein Induced by Vitamin K Absence or Antagonist-II

“…It has been shown that the hepatoid foci of gastric adenocarcinoma produce both AFP and PIVKA-II (7). As the foregut endoblasts form the yolk sac and liver, hepatoid differentiation of YST is not unusual (29), detected in 9.3% of GCTs (30). As mentioned earlier, PIVKA-IIproducing gastric cancer cases without a hepatoid segment have been reported (16).…”