Deciduoid or pseudodecidual mesothelioma

Our plain-English summary of Deciduoid or pseudodecidual mesothelioma, by A. Talerman (The American Journal of Surgical Pathology, 2000).

The study

• Author: A. Talerman
• Journal: The American Journal of Surgical Pathology
• Published: 2000;24(8):1179
• Type of article: Comment, Letter
• Cited by: 4 articles, as counted by NIH iCite
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher

Summary of the article

In this letter to the editor, the author responded to a recent paper by Shanks et al. showing that malignant mesotheliomas with "deciduoid" morphology were not confined to young females or to the peritoneal cavity. The author noted that earlier reported cases, and unreported cases he had seen, occurred in children and young adult females. In contrast, the cases of Shanks et al. were all in older subjects, were equally divided between males and females, and in one case arose in the pleura rather than the peritoneum. He recalled that the original case with this morphology was a peritoneal malignant mesothelioma in a 13-year-old girl. It had been submitted to him with a diagnosis of deciduosis and had posed serious diagnostic problems for reputable pathologists. Nascimento et al. later coined the term deciduoid mesothelioma for three cases in young women. Since then the author had seen in consultation a number of similar cases in young females, including cases submitted as hepatoid and other types of yolk sac tumor. He agreed that this morphology tended to be more frequent in peritoneal mesotheliomas of young women. Because he had been asked whether the tumor was related to deciduosis, he proposed the term "pseudodecidual" as more correct. He suggested studying large series of peritoneal and pleural mesotheliomas to determine how frequent this variant is and whether it is more common in young females.

PubMed has no abstract for this study, and the article doesn't print one. We wrote this summary from the full article with the help of AI. It is not the authors' wording.

In plain English

This item was a short letter to the editor, not a research study. The author responded to a paper by Shanks and colleagues on malignant mesotheliomas with a 'deciduoid' appearance under the microscope. As the letter described it, that paper reported cases in older people, equally divided between males and females, with one case starting in the pleura rather than the peritoneum. Earlier reports had involved children and young women. The author recalled the original case of peritoneal malignant mesothelioma with this appearance, in a 13-year-old girl, which had been sent with a diagnosis of deciduosis. The author also reported seeing, in consultation, a number of similar cases in young females, some sent as types of yolk sac tumor. The author agreed that this appearance tends to be more frequent in peritoneal mesotheliomas of young women. The author proposed the term 'pseudodecidual' as more correct than 'deciduoid' and called for studies of large series of peritoneal and pleural mesotheliomas to learn how frequent this variant is. The letter did not mention 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: letter to the editor (commentary on another published paper; no new study)
• Who was studied: No study population. The letter discusses cases published by others, the author's earlier published case of a 13-year-old girl, and unreported consultation cases in young females (number not given).
• Main results:
  • As described in the letter, the cases reported by Shanks et al. (another study) were in older subjects, equally divided between males and females, and in one case the primary site was the pleura.
  • The original case of peritoneal malignant mesothelioma with this appearance, published earlier by the author and colleagues, was in a 13-year-old girl and had been submitted with a diagnosis of deciduosis.
  • The author reported seeing in consultation a number of similar cases in young females, including cases submitted as hepatoid and other types of yolk sac tumor, but none submitted as deciduosis.
• The authors' conclusion: The author considered the term 'deciduoid' somewhat confusing and suggested 'pseudodecidual' would be more correct. The author said it would be of considerable interest to study large series of peritoneal and pleural malignant mesotheliomas to see how frequent this variant is and whether it is more frequent in young females.

Topics

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

Medical terms in this study, explained in our Lexicon: Mesothelioma, Malignant Mesothelioma, Peritoneal Cavity, Pleura, Peritoneum, Peritoneal Mesothelioma, Pleural Mesothelioma.

Related studies

• Mesotheliomas with deciduoid morphology: a morphologic spectrum and a variant not confined to young females — J.H. Shanks, M. Harris, et al. (2000)
• Primary Malignant Deciduoid Mesothelioma: A Challenging Diagnosis — M. Regragui, N.B. Guebessi (2019)
• Pregnancy-related peritoneal ectopic decidua (deciduosis): morphological and clinical evaluation — F. Bolat, T. Canpolat, et al. (2012)
• An 8-Year-Old Child with Malignant Deciduoid Mesothelioma of the Abdomen: Report of a Case and Review of the Literature — M. Wolff-Bar, T. Dujovny, et al. (2015)
• Epithelial mesothelioma with deciduoid features: report of four cases — N.G. Ordóñez (2000)
• Deciduoid mesothelioma: report of 21 cases with review of the literature — N.G. Ordóñez (2012)

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