Endodermal sinus (yolk sac) tumor of the parotid gland: a case report

Extragonadal primary yolk sac tumour of temporal bone

Yolk sac tumour, also known as endodermal sinus tumour (EST) is malignant germ cell tumours usually seen in children less than 3 years of age, involving the testis. We describe a rare case of extragonadal primary yolk sac tumour of the temporal bone in a 2.5 years old child presenting with a left sided post auricular mass and facial nerve palsy. Biopsy was consistent with yolk sac tumour showing expression of alpha fetoprotein. Patient was treated with chemotherapy including cisplatin, etoposide, and bleomycin. Post chemotherapy there was decrease in the swelling with improvement in facial nerve palsy.

Primary sarcomas of the salivary glands: case series and literature review

BACKGROUND

Mesenchymal malignancies of salivary origin are rare and are histologically diverse. We reviewed our experience with these tumors, as well as the published literature, with an emphasis on treatment modalities and prognosis.

METHODS

We identified 17 patients treated for malignant mesenchymal cell tumors at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center between 1990 and 2007. We compared our results to the literature from January 1990 to July 2010.

RESULTS

Tumors were located primarily in the parotid gland and were primarily T1 tumors (<5 cm). All patients were treated with surgical resection, and 13 patients were given adjuvant therapy. Seven patients (41%) had recurrence, and 4 developed distant metastases. The overall 5-year and 10-year survival rates were 42% and 20%, respectively.

CONCLUSIONS

Our case series and literature review show that sarcomas of the salivary glands have a high rate of recurrence and are associated with a poor prognosis.

Yolk sac tumor in the nasal cavity

Yolk sac carcinoma (YST) is rare malignant tumor of germ cell origin. It most commonly arises from the gonads but extragonadal sites of origin are reported in 20% of the cases. Head and neck germ cell tumors are uncommon and only a small number are malignant. We present the case of a 48 years old man presenting with a YST of the sinonasal tract and the arterior skull base. The patient underwent an anterior craniofacial resection and postoperative radiotherapy and continues showing no evidence of disease seven years after treatment. We discuss radiological and histological features of this tumor and provide a review of three other cases of YST arising in children.

Nonlymphoid mesenchymal tumors of the parotid gland

Salivary gland tumors are uncommon and most of them are of epithelial origin. Mesenchymal tumors affecting the parotid are extremely rare, and we present a series of 19 cases. All parotid tumors (600 cases) treated at the Department of Head and Neck Surgery from A.C. Camargo Hospital, Brazil from 1953 to 2003 were reviewed and 19 cases of nonlymphoid mesenchymal origin were selected. The histological characteristics were reviewed and clinical features were obtained from the medical charts. 15 out of 19 were benign tumors, including 5 lymphangiomas, 5 neurofibromas, and one case each of schwannoma, lipoma, solitary fibrous tumor, meningioma and giant cell tumor. Four malignant tumors were classified as rhabdomyosarcoma, fibrosarcoma, Langerhans cell histiocytosis and endodermal sinus tumor. From the malignant cases, only the patient with fibrosarcoma died due the tumor, the other three are alive with no signs of recurrence. In our series of 600 cases of parotid gland tumors, nonlymphoid mesenchymal tumors corresponded to 3.16% (19 cases; 15 benign and 4 malignant). All cases were treated by surgery with no recurrences, except one case of fibrosarcoma whose patient died of distant metastasis.

Endodermal sinus tumor of the parotid gland in a child

We report a case of a 16-month-old girl with a primary endodermal sinus tumor (EST) of the parotid gland. The girl was admitted to the hospital with a left side cervical tumor with a quick growth (within 3 wk). The tumor was surgically resected. The gross examination showed a 7.0-cm hemorrhagic and fragmentized mass. Diagnosis of an EST was established on the hematoxylin and eosin-stained slides from the resected material. Elevated serum alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) levels were detected and follow-up examinations of the patient did not show ESTs in other locations or other manifestations due to the tumor. The patient received chemotherapy after the surgery and remained alive without evidence of disease at the time of this writing (2 years after the diagnosis). As far as we know, this is the second report in the literature of a parotid gland's EST.

Endodermal sinus (yolk sac) tumor of oral cavity originating from gingiva

Endodermal sinus tumor is a malignant germ cell tumor which usually arises in gonads. Extragonadal endodermal sinus tumors in the head and neck are very rare. Here a gingival endodermal sinus tumor is reported. The lesion demonstrated typical microscopic features of the endodermal sinus tumors of gonads. The tumor cells showed alpha-fetoprotein immunoreactivity in immunohistochemical evaluation. The serum alpha-fetoprotein level was high. This is the first gingival case in the related literature.

Yolk sac tumors (endodermal sinus tumors) of the extracranial head and neck regions

Yolk sac tumors (or endodermal sinus tumors) are rare neoplasms of germ cell origin that have been reported in gonadal sites (testis and ovary). Extragonadal yolk sac tumors are uncommonly seen, and in particular, they are rare in the extracranial head and neck regions; we found 27 well-documented cases in the English-language literature. We discuss their clinical and pathologic features.