Metastasis of hepatocellular carcinoma occurs at a relatively late stage of the disease. Hematogenous and lymphatic metastases are the most common routes for dissemination of tumor cells. Hepatocellular carcinoma also extends into the adjacent portal vein and bile ducts. Since there is no peritoneum between the body of the gallbladder and the liver fossa, gallbladder cancer can easily cross the boundary. Gallbladder invasion of hepatocellular carcinoma, however, is quite rare. We report a case of hepatocellular- cholangiocarcinoma in a non-cirrhotic liver that invaded the gallbladder mimicking the gallbladder carcinoma complicated by cholecystitis and liver abscess.
Aged ; Bile Duct Neoplasms/*pathology ; *Bile Ducts, Intrahepatic ; Carcinoma, Hepatocellular/pathology/*secondary ; Cholangiocarcinoma/pathology/*secondary ; English Abstract ; Female ; Gallbladder Neoplasms/diagnosis/*secondary ; Humans ; Liver Neoplasms/*pathology ; Neoplasm Invasiveness

No abstract availble.
Carcinoma, Renal Cell/*diagnosis/pathology/*secondary ; Female ; Gallbladder Neoplasms/*diagnosis/pathology/*secondary ; Humans ; Immunohistochemistry ; Kidney Neoplasms/*pathology ; Middle Aged ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed

Extrahepatic metastasis of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is occasionally seen in the lung, bone, adrenal gland, and lymph nodes. It is well known that HCC sometimes invades the biliary system. Since there is no peritoneum between the gallbladder and the liver fossa, a gallbladder cancer easily invades the liver; however, HCC seldom invades the gallbladder because it rarely destroys the muscle layer or the collagen fibers of the gallbladder wall. Routes of gallbladder metastasis of HCC include direct invasion, extension to the biliary system, and invasion of the adjacent hepatic vascular system. Some cases of gallbladder metastasis of HCC without direct invasion have been reported. We report here a case of HCC that directly invaded the gallbladder, and that resembled gallbladder carcinoma invading the liver.
Adult ; Carcinoma, Hepatocellular/*diagnosis/pathology/ultrasonography ; Diagnosis, Differential ; Gallbladder Neoplasms/diagnosis/*secondary ; Humans ; Liver Neoplasms/*diagnosis/pathology/ultrasonography ; Male ; Neoplasm Invasiveness ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed

OBJECTIVE: To describe computed tomography (CT) features of metastatic gallbladder (GB) tumors (MGTs) from various primary tumors and to determine whether there are differential imaging features of MGTs according to different primary tumors. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Twenty-one patients who had pathologically confirmed MGTs and underwent CT were retrospectively enrolled. Clinical findings including presenting symptoms, type of surgery, and interval between primary and metastatic tumors were recorded. Histologic features of primary tumor and MGTs including depth of invasion were also reviewed. Imaging findings were analyzed for the location and morphology of MGTs, pattern and degree of enhancement, depth of invasion, presence of intact overlying mucosa, and concordance between imaging features of primary and metastatic tumors. Significant differences between the histologies of MGTs and imaging features were determined. RESULTS: The most common primary tumor metastasized to the GB was gastric cancer (n = 8), followed by renal cell carcinoma (n = 4) and hepatocellular carcinoma (n = 3). All MGTs (n = 21) manifested as infiltrative wall thickenings (n = 15) or as polypoid lesions (n = 6) on CT, similar to the features of primary GB cancers. There were significant differences in the morphology of MGTs, enhancement pattern, enhancement degree, and depth of invasion according to the histology of primary tumors (p < 0.05). Metastatic adenocarcinomas of the GB manifested as infiltrative and persistently enhancing wall thickenings, while non-adenocarcinomatous metastases usually manifested as polypoid lesions with early wash-in and wash-out. CONCLUSION: Although CT findings of MGTs are similar to those of primary GB cancer, they are significantly different between the various histologies of primary tumors.
Adenocarcinoma/pathology/radiography/secondary ; Adult ; Aged ; Carcinoma, Hepatocellular/pathology/radiography/secondary ; Carcinoma, Renal Cell/pathology/radiography/secondary ; Carcinoma, Squamous Cell/pathology/radiography/secondary ; Diagnosis, Differential ; Female ; Gallbladder Neoplasms/pathology/*radiography/*secondary ; Humans ; Kidney Neoplasms/pathology ; Liver Neoplasms/pathology ; Male ; Melanoma/pathology/radiography/secondary ; Middle Aged ; Neoplasm Invasiveness/radiography ; Retrospective Studies ; Stomach Neoplasms/pathology ; *Tomography, X-Ray Computed

OBJECTIVETo study the role of arginase-1 (Arg-1) expression in differential diagnosis of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), Arg-1 staining pattern in clear cell neoplasm (HCC and non-HCC) and Arg-1 expression in non-hepatocellular tumors.

METHODSSeventy-eight cases of HCC (including 8 cases of clear cell type and 70 cases of non- clear cell type) and 246 cases of non-hepatocellular neoplasms (including 29 cases of metastatic tumors such as breast cancer, nasopharyngeal carcinoma and neuroendocrine carcinoma, 77 cases of tumors with clear cell changes such as malignant melanoma, clear cell renal cell carcinoma and alveolar soft part sarcoma, and 140 cases of other types of tumors such as ovarian endometrioid adenocarcinoma, pituitary tumor and thyroid papillary carcinoma) were studied.Immunohistochemical study for Arg-1 was performed on the paraffin-embedded tumor tissue.

RESULTSIn HCC, Arg-1 demonstrated both cytoplasmic and nuclear staining, with an overall sensitivity of 96.2% (75/78).In well, moderately and poorly differentiated HCC, the sensitivity was 15/15, 100% (41/41) and 86.4% (19/22), respectively. That was in contrast to negative staining for Arg-1 in all the 29 cases of metastatic tumors studied. The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value and negative predictive value of Arg-1 in distinguishing HCC from metastatic tumors was 96.2%, 100%, 100% and 90.6%, respectively. Cytoplasmic and membranous staining was observed in clear cell type of HCC. The overall sensitivity of Arg-1 expression in the 77 cases of tumors with clear cell changes was 14.3% (11/77), including 8/15 for malignant melanoma, 2/4 for ovarian clear cell carcinoma and 1/1 gall bladder adenocarcinoma with clear cell component.In malignant melanoma and ovarian clear cell carcinoma, only cytoplasmic staining was demonstrated. There was no expression of Arg-1 in the 140 cases of other tumor types studied.

CONCLUSIONSArg-1 is a sensitive and specific marker for HCC.It is a potentially useful immunohistochemical marker in distinguishing HCC from metastatic tumors. Though also expressed in malignant melanoma and ovarian clear cell carcinoma, Arg-1 shows a different staining pattern as compared with that in HCC.

Adenocarcinoma ; enzymology ; Adult ; Aged ; Arginase ; metabolism ; Carcinoma, Hepatocellular ; enzymology ; pathology ; secondary ; Cell Differentiation ; Diagnosis, Differential ; Female ; Gallbladder Neoplasms ; enzymology ; Humans ; Liver Neoplasms ; enzymology ; pathology ; secondary ; Male ; Melanoma ; enzymology ; Middle Aged ; Ovarian Neoplasms ; enzymology ; Stomach Neoplasms ; enzymology ; pathology

No abstract available.
Adenocarcinoma/*complications/*diagnosis/pathology ; Aged, 80 and over ; Colonoscopy ; Ethanol/therapeutic use ; Female ; Gallbladder Neoplasms/*complications/*diagnosis/pathology ; Humans ; Intestinal Obstruction/*etiology ; Liver Neoplasms/complications/drug therapy/secondary ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed

The biliary tract is an unusual site of metastasis from breast carcinoma, and this has rarely been reported in the literature. We report the case of a 42-year-old woman diagnosed with invasive lobular carcinoma of the breast who underwent laparoscopic cholecystectomy for an incidental finding of gallbladder wall thickening on ultrasonography, which was subsequently confirmed to be consistent with metastasis from the breast primary.
Adult ; Biliary Tract ; physiopathology ; Breast Neoplasms ; diagnosis ; diagnostic imaging ; pathology ; Carcinoma, Lobular ; diagnosis ; physiopathology ; Cholecystectomy, Laparoscopic ; methods ; Disease Progression ; Female ; Gallbladder Neoplasms ; diagnosis ; diagnostic imaging ; secondary ; Humans ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Prognosis ; Treatment Outcome ; Ultrasonography