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mediastinal hepatoid yolk sac tumor
Wednesday 10 October 2007
Macroscopy
The tumors are described as large mediastinal masses that impinged on adjacent structures.
Microscopy
Histologically, they were characterized by sheets of medium-sized, round to polygonal neoplastic cells with moderate amounts of eosinophilic cytoplasm and round to oval nuclei with prominent nucleoli.
The cellular proliferation is homogeneous and displayed moderate cellular atypia and scattered mitotic activity.
The tumors show focally the presence of more conventional areas of yolk sac tumor, with islands of tumor cells showing a reticular pattern of growth admixed with scattered intra- and extracellular hyaline globules and occasional Schiller-Duval bodies.
Immunochemistry
Immunohistochemical studies show strong positivity of the tumor cells for alpha-fetoprotein in both components of the lesions.
Prognosis
Most patients develop lung metastases within a year after initial diagnosis.
References
Moran CA, Suster S. Hepatoid yolk sac tumors of the mediastinum: a clinicopathologic and immunohistochemical study of four cases. Am J Surg Pathol. 1997 Oct;21(10):1210-4. PMID: 9331294
