Malignant Deciduoid Mesothelioma: A Diagnostic Challenge
Tuesday, March 1st, 2005.
Archives of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine 129, no. 3 (2005): 403–406. Article
Najat Mourra, MD; Cecile de Chaisemartin, MD; Isabelle Goubin-Versini, MD; Rolland Parc, MD; Jean-Francois Flejou, MD
From the Departments of Pathology (Drs Mourra and Flejou) and Surgery (Drs Chaisemartin and Parc), Hôpital St-Antoine, Paris, France; and Department of Pathology, Hôpital Rene Dubois, Pontoise, France (Dr Goubin-Versini)
Abstract
Malignant deciduoid mesothelioma, a rare phenotype of epithelioid mesothelioma, arises more commonly from the peritoneum of young women, but it is also reported in the pleura of elderly people. We report a case of malignant deciduoid mesothelioma that occurred in a 41-year-old woman after cesarean section and was initially misdiagnosed as pseudotumoral deciduosis. Microscopically, the tumor was entirely composed of deciduoid areas, and only scattered tumor cells were positive for calretinin and keratin 5/6. The patient died 14 months after the first operation. This observation confirms the poor prognosis of this entity and the importance of the differential diagnosis of pseudotumoral deciduosis.
Glossary
- prognosis
- (prog-no-sis) a prediction of the course of disease; the outlook for the cure of the patient. For example, women with breast cancer that was detected early and who received prompt treatment have a good prognosis.
- pleura
- (pler-uh) the membrane around the lungs and lining of the chest cavity. (Pleural mesothelioma.)
- diagnosis
- identifying a disease by its signs or symptoms, and by using imaging procedures and laboratory findings. The earlier a diagnosis of cancer is made, the better the chance for long-term survival.
- tumor
- an abnormal lump or mass of tissue. Tumors can be benign (not cancerous) or malignant (cancerous).
- mesothelioma
- a tumor derived from mesothelial tissue, such as the peritoneum (lining the abdomen) or pleura (lining the lungs). More on mesothelioma.
