Abstract
Abstract : Here we report a case of a retroperitoneal mucinous cystic epithelial tumor, whose serum CEA level elevated one year after extirpation of the tumor.
A 67-year-old woman was admitted to the hospital because of abdominal distension. Abdominal CT scan showed a huge multilocular cystic mass, which seemed to occupy nearly whole pelvis, lower and mid-abdominal cavities. At the time of en bloc removal, the tumor was found to arise from the retroperitoneum, strongly oppressing the abdominal organs. The resected tumor consisted of multilocular cysts. The cyst walls and septa showed inhomogeneous thickening and each chamber contained a little whitish, almost transparent mucinous fluid. Histopathologically, the inner surface of the cyst was lined with monolayer of tall columnar epithelium with a fraction of atypical cells. Based on these findings and immunohistological analyses, the tumor was diagnosed as mucinous cystadenoma of borderline malignancy originated from the retroperitoneum. One year later, this patient's serum CEA level temporarily elevated for the first time because of unknown origin.
So far there have been no Japanese reports of retroperitoneal mucinous cystadenoma which showed postoperative elevation of serum CEA level.
