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Secretion of beta-human chorionic gonadotropin by non-small cell lung cancer: a case report
INTRODUCTION: We describe a case of non-small cell lung cancer that was found to stain positive for beta-human chorionic gonadotropin on immunohistochemistry. Only a few case reports have described lung cancers that secrete beta-human chorionic gonadotropin. CASE PRESENTATION: A 68-year-old Caucasia...
Autores principales: | , , , |
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Formato: | Texto |
Lenguaje: | English |
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BioMed Central
2011
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Acceso en línea: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3036637/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21247424 http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/1752-1947-5-19 |
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author | Khattri, Saakshi Vivekanandarajah, Abhirami Varma, Seema Kong, Frank |
author_facet | Khattri, Saakshi Vivekanandarajah, Abhirami Varma, Seema Kong, Frank |
author_sort | Khattri, Saakshi |
collection | PubMed |
description | INTRODUCTION: We describe a case of non-small cell lung cancer that was found to stain positive for beta-human chorionic gonadotropin on immunohistochemistry. Only a few case reports have described lung cancers that secrete beta-human chorionic gonadotropin. CASE PRESENTATION: A 68-year-old Caucasian man presented with symptoms of weakness, fatigue and weight loss for the past two months. On examination, he was found to have generalized lymphadenopathy, and radiologic workup revealed numerous metastases in the lungs, liver and kidneys. Biopsy of the supraclavicular lymph node revealed metastatic large cell lung cancer with beta-human chorionic gonadotropin hormone positivity. The serum beta-human chorionic gonadotropin level was 11,286 mIU/ml (upper limit of normal, 0.5 mIU/ml in non-pregnant females). He was diagnosed with stage 4 lung non-small cell lung cancer. The patient refused chemotherapy. He was discharged home with hospice care. CONCLUSION: The markedly elevated serum values of beta-human chorionic gonadotropin initially prompted the medical team to investigate germinal tumors. In the presence of a negative testicular ultrasound, workup was performed to find an extratesticular source of the tumor. Finally, the diagnosis was made with a tissue biopsy. This case illustrates that atypical markers can be seen in many cancers, emphasizing the role of immunohistochemistry and tissue biopsy in establishing the diagnosis. |
format | Text |
id | pubmed-3036637 |
institution | National Center for Biotechnology Information |
language | English |
publishDate | 2011 |
publisher | BioMed Central |
record_format | MEDLINE/PubMed |
spelling | pubmed-30366372011-02-10 Secretion of beta-human chorionic gonadotropin by non-small cell lung cancer: a case report Khattri, Saakshi Vivekanandarajah, Abhirami Varma, Seema Kong, Frank J Med Case Reports Case Report INTRODUCTION: We describe a case of non-small cell lung cancer that was found to stain positive for beta-human chorionic gonadotropin on immunohistochemistry. Only a few case reports have described lung cancers that secrete beta-human chorionic gonadotropin. CASE PRESENTATION: A 68-year-old Caucasian man presented with symptoms of weakness, fatigue and weight loss for the past two months. On examination, he was found to have generalized lymphadenopathy, and radiologic workup revealed numerous metastases in the lungs, liver and kidneys. Biopsy of the supraclavicular lymph node revealed metastatic large cell lung cancer with beta-human chorionic gonadotropin hormone positivity. The serum beta-human chorionic gonadotropin level was 11,286 mIU/ml (upper limit of normal, 0.5 mIU/ml in non-pregnant females). He was diagnosed with stage 4 lung non-small cell lung cancer. The patient refused chemotherapy. He was discharged home with hospice care. CONCLUSION: The markedly elevated serum values of beta-human chorionic gonadotropin initially prompted the medical team to investigate germinal tumors. In the presence of a negative testicular ultrasound, workup was performed to find an extratesticular source of the tumor. Finally, the diagnosis was made with a tissue biopsy. This case illustrates that atypical markers can be seen in many cancers, emphasizing the role of immunohistochemistry and tissue biopsy in establishing the diagnosis. BioMed Central 2011-01-19 /pmc/articles/PMC3036637/ /pubmed/21247424 http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/1752-1947-5-19 Text en Copyright ©2011 Khattri et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0 This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. |
spellingShingle | Case Report Khattri, Saakshi Vivekanandarajah, Abhirami Varma, Seema Kong, Frank Secretion of beta-human chorionic gonadotropin by non-small cell lung cancer: a case report |
title | Secretion of beta-human chorionic gonadotropin by non-small cell lung cancer: a case report |
title_full | Secretion of beta-human chorionic gonadotropin by non-small cell lung cancer: a case report |
title_fullStr | Secretion of beta-human chorionic gonadotropin by non-small cell lung cancer: a case report |
title_full_unstemmed | Secretion of beta-human chorionic gonadotropin by non-small cell lung cancer: a case report |
title_short | Secretion of beta-human chorionic gonadotropin by non-small cell lung cancer: a case report |
title_sort | secretion of beta-human chorionic gonadotropin by non-small cell lung cancer: a case report |
topic | Case Report |
url | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3036637/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21247424 http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/1752-1947-5-19 |
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