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Alpha-fetoprotein-producing carcinoma of the gallbladder

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Summary

A gallbladder carcinoma with a high level of serum alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) was resected in a 52-year-old Japanese woman. On microscopic examination, the tumor cells, which were arrayed in a medullary pattern, showed abundant cytoplasm with an irregular, centrally placed nucleus. Immunohistochemically, most of the tumor cells were strongly positive for AFP, albumin, carcinoembryonic antigen, and α1-antitrypsin. The serum AFP fraction of our patient by lectin affinity electrophoresis revealed a pattern similar to that of hepatocellular carcinoma. These findings suggest that this unique tumor may have been derived from hepatoid differentiation of the foregut. Although AFP-producing carcinomas of the gallbladder are extremely rare, such tumors should be considered in the differential diagnosis of patients with elevated serum AFP.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Second Department of Internal Medicine, Hokkaido University School of Medicine, West 7, North 15, 060, Kita-ku, Sapporo, Japan

    Masao Watanabe MD, Yuji Hori MD, Takayuki Nojima MD, Hiroyuki Kato MD, Kazuhisa Taketa MD, Shin Isogawa MD, Kouji Yokoyama MD & Shoichi Nakagawa MD

  2. Department of Pathology, Hokkaido University School of Medicine, Sapporo, Japan

    Masao Watanabe MD, Yuji Hori MD, Takayuki Nojima MD, Hiroyuki Kato MD, Kazuhisa Taketa MD, Shin Isogawa MD, Kouji Yokoyama MD & Shoichi Nakagawa MD

  3. Department of Surgery, Hokkaido University School of Medicine, Sapporo, Japan

    Masao Watanabe MD, Yuji Hori MD, Takayuki Nojima MD, Hiroyuki Kato MD, Kazuhisa Taketa MD, Shin Isogawa MD, Kouji Yokoyama MD & Shoichi Nakagawa MD

  4. Department of Public Health, Okayama University Medical School, Okayama, Japan

    Masao Watanabe MD, Yuji Hori MD, Takayuki Nojima MD, Hiroyuki Kato MD, Kazuhisa Taketa MD, Shin Isogawa MD, Kouji Yokoyama MD & Shoichi Nakagawa MD

Authors
  1. Masao Watanabe MD
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  2. Yuji Hori MD
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  3. Takayuki Nojima MD
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  4. Hiroyuki Kato MD
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  5. Kazuhisa Taketa MD
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  6. Shin Isogawa MD
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  7. Kouji Yokoyama MD
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  8. Shoichi Nakagawa MD
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Watanabe, M., Hori, Y., Nojima, T. et al. Alpha-fetoprotein-producing carcinoma of the gallbladder. Digest Dis Sci 38, 561–564 (1993). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01316515

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01316515

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