Mediastinal lymphangiomatosis coexisting with occult thymic carcinoma

Virchows Arch. 2007 Feb;450(2):211-4. doi: 10.1007/s00428-006-0333-z.

Abstract

Mediastinal lymphangiomatosis in a 70-year-old woman was diagnosed on a medical checkup. The tumor was resistant to sclerotherapy with OK432 or bleomycin. The patient continued on a downhill course and died approximately 3 years after the initial diagnosis. Autopsy revealed a large tumor mass occupying the anterior mediastinum and firmly adhered to the pericardium and the pleura. The tumor consisted of two intermingled lesions: dilated vessels lined with D2-40-positive lymphatic endothelium and CD5-positive atypical cell nests with focal keratinization. The former was diagnosed as lymphangiomatosis and the latter as thymic squamous cell carcinoma. Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)-C, a growth factor for lymphatic endothelial cells, was expressed by the carcinoma, and VEGF-C receptor was expressed by the endothelium of lymphangiomatosis. These findings suggested that VEGF-C derived from the thymic carcinoma induced the lymphangiomatosis lesion in a paracrine manner.

Publication types

  • Case Reports
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Aged
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Lymphangioma / chemistry
  • Lymphangioma / pathology*
  • Mediastinal Neoplasms / chemistry
  • Mediastinal Neoplasms / pathology*
  • Neoplasms, Multiple Primary / chemistry
  • Neoplasms, Multiple Primary / pathology*
  • Thymus Neoplasms / chemistry
  • Thymus Neoplasms / pathology*
  • Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor C / analysis

Substances

  • Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor C