Adenomatoid tumors in the tunica albuginea of the testis

Our plain-English summary of Adenomatoid tumors in the tunica albuginea of the testis, by J.A. Arcadi (Journal of Surgical Oncology, 1988).

The study

• Author: J.A. Arcadi
• Journal: Journal of Surgical Oncology
• Published: 1988;37(1):38-9
• Type of article: Case report
• Cited by: 6 articles, as counted by NIH iCite
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher

Abstract

Adenomatoid tumors of the tunica albuginea of the testis is rarely seen. Only 15 such cases have been described. A patient is presented in whom such a tumor was found and excised through a scrotal incision. He is alive and well 27 years later. The author presents reasons for the type of scrotal exploration done. The pathological histology is discussed. An adenomatoid tumor can easily be confused with a prostatic adenocarcinoma on frozen section.

In plain English

This article was a case report about one man with an adenomatoid tumor in the tunica albuginea, the outer covering of the testis. The author wrote that only 15 such cases had been reported before and presented this one as the 16th. The patient, a 39-year-old radiologist, had a hard, painless lump in his right testis. The blood vessels of the spermatic cord were clamped, and a 5- to 6-mm yellowish-gray nodule was cut out through an incision in the scrotum. The testis itself was kept. The removed tissue was diagnosed as an adenomatoid tumor of the glandular type. When he was seen 27 years after surgery, he had a normal testis and excellent general health. The author regarded the tumor as benign and stated that its mesothelial origin was clear to the author. The author observed that this tumor may look like prostatic adenocarcinoma on frozen section, and explained the reasons for the scrotal surgical approach. The author concluded that this is a very benign lesion, as shown by this patient's lesion-free 27-year survival. The article did not discuss asbestos.

We wrote this plain-English summary from the full article with the help of AI, and a second AI model checked each sentence against the article. It is not the authors' wording; the abstract and the article are their own account.

What the study did and found

• Design: case report (single patient), with a brief count of previously reported cases
• Who was studied: one 39-year-old male radiologist with a nontender mass in the right testis; no location or date given apart from the author's hospital in Whittier, California
• Main results:
  • At surgery, a 5- to 6-mm hard yellowish-gray nodule was found in the tunica albuginea of the testis and removed
  • The pathological diagnosis was adenomatoid tumor of the tunica albuginea testis, glandular type with large cells
  • Seen 27 years after surgery, the patient had a normal testis and excellent general health
  • The author observed that the adenomatoid tumor may appear to be prostatic adenocarcinoma on frozen section
  • The author stated that the tumor's mesothelial origin was clear to the author after reviewing data from the past 30 years
• The authors' conclusion: The author concluded that this is a very benign lesion, as shown by the lesion-free 27-year survival of this patient

Topics

The National Library of Medicine indexes this study under subjects our site covers: Mesothelioma.

Medical terms in this study, explained in our Lexicon: Adenomatoid Tumor, Histology, Adenocarcinoma, Frozen Section.

Related studies

• A new case of malignant mesothelioma of the tunica vaginalis testis. Immunohistochemistry in comparison with an adenomatoid tumor of the testis — H. Moch, H. Ohnacker, et al. (1994)
• Rare tumors of the testis and mesothelial proliferation in the tunica vaginalis — M. Colecchia, G. Mikuz, et al. (2012)
• Imaging of mesothelioma of tunica vaginalis testis — M. Bertolotto, I. Boulay-Coletta, et al. (2016)
• Malignant Mesothelioma of the Tunica Vaginalis Testis: Outcomes Following Surgical Management Beyond Radical Orchiectomy — P. Recabal, B. Rosenzweig, et al. (2017)
• Malignant mesothelioma of tunica vaginalis testis: Report of a very rare case with review of the literature — E. Trenti, S.M. Palermo, et al. (2018)
• Clinicopathological characteristics and outcomes in men with mesothelioma of the tunica vaginalis testis: analysis of published case-series data — J.B. Grogg, J.N. Fronzaroli, et al. (2021)

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