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Primary acinar cell carcinoma of the liver

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Abstract

We report a case of acinar cell carcinoma primary to the liver. The tumor was diagnosed in a 35-year-old woman complaining of abdominal pain and asthenia; serum alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) levels were increased at 6,000 IU/mL; imaging studies showed a hypervascular mass located in the left lobe of the liver. A left lobectomy was performed. The tumor had a heterogeneous appearance. In well-differentiated areas, tumor cells formed acinar structures, had a pyramidal shape and a highly eosinophilic, granular cytoplasm, PAS diastase resistant. In less-differentiated areas, tumor cells were endocrinelike. The immunohistochemical study showed that tumor cells expressed trypsin. Alpha-fetoprotein and alpha1-antritrypsin were detected in about 30% of cells; HepPar1 was present in 15% of cells. Chromogranin A and synaptophysin were detected in rare cells. After surgery, serum AFP levels quickly returned to normal; no evidence of recurrence or metastasis was observed during follow-up. The final diagnosis, based on histological, immunohistochemical, and ultrastructural arguments, was extra-pancreatic acinar cell carcinoma, primary to the liver. This unusual lesion is likely to be the result of an abnormal differentiation pathway involving a transformed multipotential progenitor cell.

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We declare that we have no conflict of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Service Central d’Anatomie et Cytologie Pathologiques, Hospices Civils de Lyon, Hôpital Edouard Herriot, 69437, Lyon Cedex 03, France

    Valérie Hervieu & Jean-Yves Scoazec

  2. Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, Université de Lyon, Villeurbanne, France

    Valérie Hervieu, Olivier Boillot & Jean-Yves Scoazec

  3. Unité d’Oncologie Médicale, Hospices Civils de Lyon, Hôpital Edouard Herriot, Lyon, France

    Catherine Lombard-Bohas

  4. Fédération des Spécialités Digestives, Hospices Civils de Lyon, Hôpital Edouard Herriot, Lyon, France

    Jérôme Dumortier & Olivier Boillot

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  1. Valérie Hervieu
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  2. Catherine Lombard-Bohas
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  3. Jérôme Dumortier
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  4. Olivier Boillot
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  5. Jean-Yves Scoazec
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Correspondence to Jean-Yves Scoazec.

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Hervieu, V., Lombard-Bohas, C., Dumortier, J. et al. Primary acinar cell carcinoma of the liver. Virchows Arch 452, 337–341 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00428-007-0556-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00428-007-0556-7

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