Clinical characteristics and outcomes of patients with hepatic angiomyolipoma: A literature review

Case report: Liver PEComa after kidney transplantation in recipient with tuberous sclerosis complex

Introduction

Perivascular epithelioid cell tumors (PEComa) are rare tumors of mesenchymal origin that exhibit perivascular epithelioid cell phenotype. One of its most common localizations is uterus, whereas only a few studies reported PEComa localization as liver. There is a correlation between the presence of PEComa and tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC). TSC is a rare disease which leads to the development of mostly non-cancerous tumors in various organs. We would like to present a case of a kidney transplant recipient with a PEComa detected post-transplant in the liver.

Case report

A 27-year-old patient, 3 years after kidney transplantation (KTx) due to chronic renal failure in the course of autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease and concomitant TSC, was admitted to the Clinic and Department of General and Transplant Surgery for abnormal findings in computed tomography (CT). A CT scan was conducted for oncological follow-up after a kidney transplant (KTx) because before the transplantation, a small cystic lesion measuring 7 mm in diameter was removed from the donor kidney and diagnosed as papillary renal cell carcinoma (PRCC). Two tumors in the liver were detected - one 27mm in diameter in segment VII/VIII and the other 8mm in diameter in segment II/III. Because of typical radiological signs hepatocellular carcinoma was suspected, but the serum level of alpha fetoprotein was within normal limits and liver function was preserved. The intraoperative biopsy and the radiofrequency ablation (RFA) of the larger tumor were performed three months later. In the histopathological examination benign PEComa (HMB45 +, Melan A +) was detected.

Conclusion

The oncological surveillance made it possible to detect liver lesion in early stage and in 3,5-year follow-up no sign of recurrence of PEComa was found. This case is the second to show RFA as treatment method of liver PEComa and first in kidney transplant recipient.

Hepatic Angiomyolipoma in Patients With Inflammatory Breast Cancer: A Case Report

Hepatic angiomyolipoma (HAML) is a rare tumor comprising adipose tissue, smooth muscle cells, and blood vessels. On the other hand, inflammatory breast cancer (IBC) is a rare and severe form of breast cancer that progresses quickly and presents as breast inflammation. It is incredibly unusual for HAML and IBC to coexist in the same patient. In the present study, we describe a case of a 63-year-old Yemeni female patient diagnosed with locally advanced left breast cancer presented with pain at the left breast and axilla. A computed tomography (CT) scan for staging showed an incidental large hepatic mass, which was eventually discovered to be HAML. The patient underwent a modified radical mastectomy after completing her neoadjuvant treatment and later underwent parenchyma-sparing liver resection of that lesion; follow-up has continued till now. The diagnosis of HAML in the presence of IBC can pose challenges due to overlapping clinical and radiological features. Treatment decisions for patients with coexisting HAML and IBC require a multidisciplinary approach; surgical resection, embolization, targeted therapies, and systemic chemotherapy may be considered based on the extent of the disease and individual patient factors. Lastly, a brief review of the related literature was also carried out.

A retrospective clinical analysis of 11 cases of PEComa from different sites

PURPOSE

The objective of this paper is to offer a thorough examination of the clinical presentations, etiology, and treatment strategies associated with perivascular epithelioid cell tumors (PEComas).

METHODS

This retrospective study examined the comprehensive archival data of PEComa cases diagnosed at Beijing Hospital from 2015 to 2023. The pathology slides of all patients were thoroughly reassessed by two experienced pathologists. A thorough retrospective analysis was undertaken, incorporating clinicopathological data including gender, age at diagnosis, initial clinical manifestations, signs, disease onset site, tumor markers, imaging findings, therapeutic modalities, pathological features, immunohistochemical profiles, treatment responses, and prognostic indicators. Patients were evaluated for disease severity according to established pathological classification criteria and were followed up until the designated analysis cut-off date. In instances where patients were unable to be monitored on-site, they were contacted via telephone for postoperative follow-up inquiries.

RESULTS

This study included 11 patients with ages ranging from 17 to 66 years old, presenting with the disease in multiple anatomical sites, including the retroperitoneum (2/11), liver (4/11), kidney (4/11), lung (1/11), and broad ligament of the uterus (1/11). Most patients presented with non-specific clinical symptoms and were subsequently diagnosed with space-occupying lesions upon physical examination. The tumor demonstrated progressive growth and enlargement, which could result in compression of neighboring organs. Preoperative imaging alone is insufficient for a definitive diagnosis of PEComa, but MRI can provide an initial evaluation of the tumor's potential malignancy. Molecular marker testing specific to PEComa, such as HMB-45 (90.0%), SMA (81.8%), Melan-A (90.9%), vimentin (90.9%), and Desmin (36.3%), was conducted on all patients. No adjuvant therapies were administered postoperatively. Upon analysis, no instances of relapse at the primary site or the development of new tumors at other sites were observed. Regular imaging reviews of three patients with malignant PEComa post-surgery showed no evidence of recurrence.

CONCLUSIONS

The clinical presentation, tumor biomarkers, and imaging characteristics of PEComa lack specificity, necessitating dependence on pathology and immunohistochemistry for precise diagnosis. The mainstay of treatment consists of surgical resection, with patients typically experiencing a favorable prognosis.

Fat-Poor Hepatic Angiomyolipoma in Noncirrhotic Livers: Imaging Features, Pathology, and Differential Diagnosis

OBJECTIVE

To investigate imaging features of fat-poor hepatic angiomyolipomas in noncirrhotic livers in order to enhance the diagnostic accuracy for this condition.

METHODS

The clinical and imaging data of 19 patients with fat-poor hepatic angiomyolipoma (fpHAML) was retrospectively analyzed.

RESULTS

Of the 19 patients without hepatitis, cirrhosis, or sarcoidosis, 16 had no clinical symptoms. There were 20 lesions in 19 patients. Macroscopic fat, calcification, hemorrhage, necrosis, and pseudocapsule were not observed in the 20 lesions. All lesions showed marked enhancement on the arterial phase, and the degree of enhancement was significantly higher than that in the adjacent hepatic parenchyma. In 8 cases, the enhancement of the portal phase was higher than that in the arterial phase. Multiple intratumor vessels were observed in the tumor, and lesions with diameters larger than 3.0 cm were more frequently observed. The degree of enhancement of 18 lesions on portal phase or delayed phase was slightly higher than or equal to that in the surrounding hepatic parenchyma. The lesions were hyperintense on diffusion-weighted imaging and showed homogeneous hypointensity on the hepatobiliary phase. Only 6 cases showed the presence of an early draining vein.

CONCLUSIONS

These imaging features have some implications for the diagnosis of fpHAML. Therefore, an increased awareness of fpHAML is needed among radiologists.

Hepatic perivascular epithelioid cell tumors: The importance of preoperative diagnosis

Accurate preoperative diagnosis is highly important for the treatment of perivascular epithelioid cell tumors (PEComas) because PEComas are mainly benign tumors and may not require surgical intervention. By analyzing the causes, properties and clinical manifestations of PEComas, we summarize the challenges and solutions in the diagnosis of PEComas.

Transcatheter arterial embolization followed by laparoscopic anatomic hepatectomy for spontaneous rupture of a giant hepatic angiomyolipoma: a case report

Hepatic angiomyolipoma is a rare and possibly cancerous mesenchymal tumor that consists of three components: blood vessels, smooth muscle cells, and adipose tissue. In this paper, we reported a case of a 36-year-old man who had a giant hepatic angiomyolipoma with spontaneous rupture and hemorrhage. The patient was admitted to our hospital with sudden upper abdominal pain for 3 h. A giant tumor was found in the left and caudate lobes of the liver, as well as significant blood collection around the liver and in the pelvis. Hemoglobin, liver function test results, and serum tumor maker levels were all within normal ranges. To prevent bleeding, emergency angiography and embolization were performed. During angiography, it was discovered that the tumor was supplied by the left hepatic artery and had a very rich internal blood supply. A massive left hepatic mass of about 11 cm in diameter was found bulging from the surface of the liver and rupturing there during laparoscopic exploration a week later. The rupture was strongly adhered to the smaller curvature of the stomach. The patient underwent laparoscopic left hemihepatectomy and caudate lobectomy, and the tumor specimen was brown, with clear boundaries with the surrounding normal liver parenchyma, and there were a large number of necrotic lesions inside the tumor. Histopathological results confirmed the mass as hepatic angiomyolipoma with negative resection margins. Immunohistochemical staining indicated that the tumor had positive homatropine methylbromide-45. After 13 months of follow-up, no tumor recurrence or metastasis occurred in the patient.

TSC2 inactivation, low mutation burden and high macrophage infiltration characterise hepatic angiomyolipomas

AIMS

Although TSC1 or TSC2 inactivating mutations that lead to mTORC1 hyperactivation have been reported in hepatic angiomyolipomas (hAML), the role of other somatic genetic events that may contribute to hAML development is unknown. There are also limited data regarding the tumour microenvironment (TME) of hAML. The aim of the present study was to identify other somatic events in genomic level and changes in TME that contribute to tumorigenesis in hAML.

METHODS AND RESULTS

In this study, we performed exome sequencing in nine sporadic hAML tumours and deep-coverage targeted sequencing for TSC2 in three additional hAML. Immunohistochemistry and multiplex immunofluorescence were carried out for 15 proteins to characterise the tumour microenvironment and assess immune cell infiltration. Inactivating somatic variants in TSC2 were identified in 10 of 12 (83%) cases, with a median allele frequency of 13.6%. Five to 18 somatic variants (median number: nine, median allele frequency 21%) not in TSC1 or TSC2 were also identified, mostly of uncertain clinical significance. Copy number changes were rare, but detection was impaired by low tumour purity. Immunohistochemistry demonstrated numerous CD68+ macrophages of distinct appearance from Küpffer cells. Multiplex immunofluorescence revealed low numbers of exhausted PD-1+/PD-L1+, FOXP3+ and CD8+ T cells.

CONCLUSION

hAML tumours have consistent inactivating mutations in TSC2 and have a low somatic mutation rate, similar to other TSC-associated tumours. Careful histological review, standard IHC and multiplex immunofluorescence demonstrated marked infiltration by non-neoplastic inflammatory cells, mostly macrophages.

A rare case of giant hepatic angiomyolipoma with subcapsular rupture

Hepatic angiomyolipoma (HAML) is a rare mesenchymal neoplasm that predominantly affects middle-aged women. In this study, we present a case of a 49-year-old woman with a giant HAML accompanied by spontaneous subcapsular rupture. The patient initially experienced nausea and abdominal distention, followed by an enlargement of the upper abdominal circumference. Laboratory examination revealed decreased serum hemoglobin, while tumor biomarkers were within normal ranges. Imaging studies, such as abdominal ultrasound and contrast-enhanced computed tomography (CT), demonstrated a large upper abdominal mass with heterogeneous density and hypervascularity. The tumor appeared to have invaded the left liver, raising concerns about possible malignancy. Subsequent positron-emission tomography/CT confirmed increased fluorodeoxyglucose uptake in the mass. Laparoscopic exploration revealed a protruding, well-encapsulated tumor from the left liver, exhibiting subcapsular hemorrhage. Surgical resection of the tumor and the left liver was performed, leading to a successful outcome.

A case report of hepatic angiomyolipoma, inflammatory subtype. Clinico-pathological characterization: a diagnostic challenge

BACKGROUND

Angiomyolipoma is a benign mesenchymal neoplasm of a wide histological heterogeneity belonging to the PEComa "family." The liver, after the kidney, is their second most frequent location. However, inflammatory hepatic AMLs constitute a rare entity, with only fourteen documented cases until 2020. These neoplasms can overlap morphological features of IgG4-related diseases, being of great diagnostic relevance to demonstrating myomelanocytic-lineage differentiation of the neoplastic cells.

CASE PRESENTATION

we present a new case of an inflammatory hepatic AML resembling an IgG4-related disease in a 35-year-old woman with a subcapsular 5 cm mass confined to segment VII of the right hepatic lobe. Although having reduced its size along the tumor's natural evolution, complete tumor resection was decided due to its hypermetabolic behavior (max. SUV = 12,6) assessed by PET-CT scan. Finally, the patient underwent a right hepatectomy due to spontaneous rupture and bleeding of the lesion during the intervention. All the diagnostic and therapeutic procedures occurred in the last months of the COVID-19 pandemic.

CONCLUSIONS

This review aims to describe inflammatory hepatic AML histological and immunohistochemical features. We further sought to establish a clinicopathological contextualization of this tumoral subtype.

Ablation for Benign Liver Tumors: Current Concepts and Limitations

Percutaneous ablation under imaging guidance is a curative treatment that can induce complete tumor necrosis with advantages of minimal invasiveness and a low risk of complications. Thermal ablation, which includes radiofrequency ablation and microwave ablation, is a representative technique that has sufficient antitumor effects in cases of hepatocellular carcinoma with ≤3 lesions measuring ≤3 cm and preserved liver function. The short- and long-term outcomes of patients are comparable with those achieved with surgical resection. Despite their nonmalignant nature, some benign liver tumors require treatment for symptoms caused by the presence of the tumor and/or continuous enlargement. Ablation may be the treatment of choice because it has lower burden on patients than surgical treatment. This review describes the recent concepts, progress, and limitations of ablation-based treatment for benign liver tumors.

Giant hepatic angiomyolipoma presenting with severe anemia: A surgical case report and review of literature

Background

Angiomyolipoma (AML) is a solid benign neoplasm with mesenchymal features. The clinical signs and symptoms of hepatic angiomyolipoma are nonspecific, and treatment strategy is variable.

Presentation

A 35-years-old male patient has admitted to the hospital with symptoms of severe anemia. Abdominal multi-slice computed tomography (MSCT) and Gadoxetic acid (GA)-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) revealed a heterogeneous 23 × 17 cm-in-sized tumor with heterogeneous enhancement and increased angiogenesis. Percutaneous hepatic biopsy was proceeded and in immunohistochemistry, tumor cells responded positively to the HMB-45, SMA, and Glutamine stains, the CD-34 stain was positive for blood vessels as well as Ki-67 sporadically positive, but the Heppar1, S-100, CK stains reacted negative. The final pathologic result was consistent with the primary hepatic angiomyolipoma. The final surgical management was extended right hepatectomy with ligation of the right hepatic artery (RHA) and vein (RHV), as well as the middle hepatic vein (MHV), one month after portal embolization as well as to enlarge the remnant liver volume.

Discussion

A hepatic angiomyolipoma (HAML) primary origin is relatively rare, the clinical manifestations are variable and non-specific. Histological examination and immunohistochemistry staining are considered as the gold standard for HAML diagnosis. HAML are commonly expressed benign behaviors, but HAML cases with malignant behaviors were reported in a cumulative incidence. Radical surgery must be still the most effective and major treatment approach.

Conclusion

The present case being the first case with initial syndrome of severe anemia accounted in the English literature. Giant angiomyolipoma is composed of blood vessels and could lead to extensive internal tumoral hemorrhage. We here present a report of this case with had primary hepatic angiomyolipoma with clinical picture of severe anemia.

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A hepatic angiomyolipoma (HAML) is occasionally rare, the clinical manifestations are variable and non-specific.

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Histological examination and immunohistochemistry staining are considered as the gold standard.

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Radical surgery is the most effective and major treatment approach for symptomatic or big-sized HAML.

Diagnostic Value of CEUS LI-RADS Version 2017 in Differentiating AFP-Negative Hepatocellular Carcinoma from Other Primary Malignancies of the Liver

Purpose: To explore the diagnostic value of Contrast-enhanced Ultrasound Liver Imaging Reporting and Data System version 2017 (CEUS LI-RADS v2017) in differentiating alpha-fetoprotein (AFP)-negative hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) from other primary malignancies (OM) of the liver. Methods: The data of 99 patients with primary liver malignant tumors confirmed by surgical pathology and AFP-negative from January 2018 to January 2021 were retrospectively analyzed, and the lesions were divided into 61 cases in the AFP-negative HCC group and 38 cases in the OM group according to the pathological findings, the CEUS features of the lesions were analyzed and the lesions were classified according to the CEUS LI-RADS v2017. Comparison of CEUS features between the two groups was performed using the χ2 test. The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value, and coincidence rate of CEUS LI-RADS v2017 for the diagnosis of AFP-negative HCC and OM were calculated using pathological findings as the gold standard. Results: The differences in features of arterial phase enhancement and wash-out between the HCC and OM groups were statistically significant (p < 0.05). The sensitivity of diagnosing HCC by LR-5 was 62.3% and the specificity was 92.1%. The sensitivity of diagnosing OM by LR-M was 92.1% and the specificity was 83.6%. Conclusions: When AFP is negative in patients with intrahepatic focal lesions, LR-5 has high specificity but low sensitivity in the diagnosis of HCC, and LR-M has high sensitivity and specificity in the diagnosis of OM. CEUS LI-RADS is a tool to differentiate AFP-negative HCC and OM effectively.

Radiomics Based on Contrast-Enhanced MRI in Differentiation Between Fat-Poor Angiomyolipoma and Hepatocellular Carcinoma in Noncirrhotic Liver: A Multicenter Analysis

Objective

This study aims to develop and externally validate a contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (CE-MRI) radiomics-based model for preoperative differentiation between fat-poor angiomyolipoma (fp-AML) and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in patients with noncirrhotic livers and to compare the diagnostic performance with that of two radiologists.

Methods

This retrospective study was performed with 165 patients with noncirrhotic livers from three medical centers. The dataset was divided into a training cohort (n = 99), a time-independent internal validation cohort (n = 24) from one center, and an external validation cohort (n = 42) from the remaining two centers. The volumes of interest were contoured on the arterial phase (AP) images and then registered to the venous phase (VP) and delayed phase (DP), and a total of 3,396 radiomics features were extracted from the three phases. After the joint mutual information maximization feature selection procedure, four radiomics logistic regression classifiers, including the AP model, VP model, DP model, and combined model, were built. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC), diagnostic accuracy, sensitivity, and specificity of each radiomics model and those of two radiologists were evaluated and compared.

Results

The AUCs of the combined model reached 0.789 (95%CI, 0.579-0.999) in the internal validation cohort and 0.730 (95%CI, 0.563-0.896) in the external validation cohort, higher than the AP model (AUCs, 0.711 and 0.638) and significantly higher than the VP model (AUCs, 0.594 and 0.610) and the DP model (AUCs, 0.547 and 0.538). The diagnostic accuracy, sensitivity, and specificity of the combined model were 0.708, 0.625, and 0.750 in the internal validation cohort and 0.619, 0.786, and 0.536 in the external validation cohort, respectively. The AUCs for the two radiologists were 0.656 and 0.594 in the internal validation cohort and 0.643 and 0.500 in the external validation cohort. The AUCs of the combined model surpassed those of the two radiologists and were significantly higher than that of the junior one in both validation cohorts.

Conclusions

The proposed radiomics model based on triple-phase CE-MRI images was proven to be useful for differentiating between fp-AML and HCC and yielded comparable or better performance than two radiologists in different centers, with different scanners and different scanning parameters.

RESSECÇÃO LAPAROSCÓPICA DE TUMORES BENIGNOS DO FÍGADO: POSIÇÃO ATUAL

The main indications of the use of laparoscopic liver surgery (LLS), in the early days, were benign liver lesions. As LLS became more popular, indications for malignant diseases outnumbered those for benign ones. This study aims to rule out the indications and results of LLS for the treatment of benign liver tumors.