Glioblastoma mimicking metastatic small cell carcinoma: A case report with ultrastructural findings

It is often straightforward to distinguish glioblastoma (GBM) from metastatic carcinoma by cytology; however, small cell variants of GBM or GBM with primitive neuronal component (GBMPNC) can mimic metastatic small cell carcinoma (SCC). Herein, we report a case of GBMPNC mimicking metastatic SCC and...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Diagnostic cytopathology 2021-08, Vol.49 (8), p.E291-E296
Main Authors: Maekawa, Kazunari, Tokumitsu, Takako, Noguchi, Hiroshi, Nakamura, Eriko, Gi, Toshihiro, Horinouchi, Shoichi, Yamashita, Shinji, Takeshima, Hideo, Asada, Yujiro, Sato, Yuichiro
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Aged
Brain Neoplasms - diagnosis
Brain Neoplasms - pathology
Carcinoma, Small Cell - diagnosis
Carcinoma, Small Cell - pathology
Cytodiagnosis
Diagnosis, Differential
electron microscopy
glioblastoma
Glioblastoma - diagnosis
Glioblastoma - pathology
Glioblastoma - ultrastructure
Humans
immunohistochemistry
Male
small cell carcinoma
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:It is often straightforward to distinguish glioblastoma (GBM) from metastatic carcinoma by cytology; however, small cell variants of GBM or GBM with primitive neuronal component (GBMPNC) can mimic metastatic small cell carcinoma (SCC). Herein, we report a case of GBMPNC mimicking metastatic SCC and present cytological and ultrastructural findings. A 65‐year‐old man with memory disturbance was hospitalized. Magnetic resonance imaging revealed the presence of a 6 cm sized tumor in the right anterior temporal lobe. Intraoperative cytology slides indicated that the tumor consisted of small‐sized cells with scant cytoplasm showing high cellularity. The initial intraoperative diagnosis was metastatic SCC; however, any primary visceral tumor was not detected clinically. Immunohistochemical and ultrastructural studies of postoperative histological sections revealed that the lesion was GBMPNC. This case shows that some GBMs may have the potential to closely mimic metastatic SCC, which expands the differential diagnosis and emphasizes the importance of clinical correlation.
ISSN:8755-1039
1097-0339
DOI:10.1002/dc.24715