Early uptake and continuous accumulation of thallium-201 chloride in a benign mixed tumor of soft tissue: case report

Diagn Pathol. 2010 May 30:5:34. doi: 10.1186/1746-1596-5-34.

Abstract

A case of benign mixed tumor of the soft tissue in a 64-year-old Japanese male is presented. He noticed a painless, elastic hard mass sized 3 cm in the right knee, which gradually grew larger and harder in the last 5 years. Magnetic resonance imaging demonstrated a mass lesion embedded in the subcutaneous tissue with low and high signal intensity at T1- and T2-weighted images, respectively. Tl-201 scintigraphy showed an early uptake of Tl-201 within the lesion at 10 minutes after injection, which was slightly decreased but still continued at 2 hours later. The patient underwent a resection of tumor, and the pathological diagnosis was a benign mixed tumor of soft tissue without high vascularity, characterized by histological features similar to pleomorphic adenomas in the salivary glands. Immunohistochemical study proved expression of Na+/K+-ATPase of tumor cells. Overexpression of Na+/K+-ATPase of the tumor might be responsible for the early uptake of Tl-201, and poor vascular structure in this tumor might lead to continuous accumulation. The Tl-201 scintigraphic features of mixed tumor of soft tissue are assessed to resemble those of malignant soft tissue tumors.

Publication types

  • Case Reports

MeSH terms

  • Biopsy
  • Humans
  • Immunohistochemistry
  • Knee
  • Magnetic Resonance Imaging
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Neoplasms, Complex and Mixed / diagnostic imaging*
  • Neoplasms, Complex and Mixed / enzymology
  • Neoplasms, Complex and Mixed / surgery
  • Predictive Value of Tests
  • Radiopharmaceuticals* / metabolism
  • Sodium-Potassium-Exchanging ATPase / metabolism
  • Soft Tissue Neoplasms / diagnostic imaging*
  • Soft Tissue Neoplasms / enzymology
  • Soft Tissue Neoplasms / surgery
  • Thallium* / metabolism
  • Tomography, Emission-Computed*
  • Whole Body Imaging

Substances

  • Radiopharmaceuticals
  • thallium chloride
  • Thallium
  • Sodium-Potassium-Exchanging ATPase