Squamous cell carcinoma arising in a ciliated hepatic foregut cyst

Abstract.

We report a case of squamous-cell carcinoma arising in a ciliated hepatic foregut cyst that occurred in a 21-year-old man. The cystic lesion was first discovered during childhood with no further follow-up. Following important weight loss over several months, the patient was admitted to our hospital where a CT scan showed a cystic and solid mass in segments V and VI of the liver involving the transverse mesocolon and the gastric antrum. A right hepatectomy with en-bloc right hemicolectomy and partial gastrectomy was performed. Gross examination showed a partially cystic liver mass with a maximum dimension of 10 cm infiltrating the large bowel wall. Microscopically, it was a poorly differentiated squamous-cell carcinoma arising from the wall of a liver cyst lined by a ciliated, pseudostratified columnar epithelium. Hepatic foregut cysts are uncommon, congenital, benign lesions that, when discovered, deserve careful clinical follow-up as malignant transformation, albeit exceptional, is possible.