Deciduoid pleural mesothelioma

Our plain-English summary of Deciduoid pleural mesothelioma, by H. Monaghan, A. Al-Nafussi (Histopathology, 2001).

The study

• Authors: H. Monaghan, A. Al-Nafussi
• Journal: Histopathology
• Published: 2001;39(1):104-6
• Type of article: Case report, Letter
• Cited by: 13 articles, as counted by NIH iCite
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher

Summary of the article

This letter reported a case of deciduoid pleural mesothelioma in a man with previous asbestos exposure. The authors noted that deciduoid peritoneal mesotheliomas are uncommon, with nine previously reported cases, and that pleural deciduoid mesotheliomas are rarer, with six previously reported cases. A 66-year-old man with a history of asbestos exposure presented with a 6-week history of night sweats and lethargy, without preceding pneumonic symptoms. Radiology showed a pleural-based mass in the posterior right lower chest. Thoracoscopy showed nodular, thickened visceral pleura and an extensive pleural mass, which was biopsied. Under the microscope, the pleura was replaced by sheets of large round, ovoid and polygonal cells with sharp outlines, abundant eosinophilic cytoplasm and round vesicular nucleoli. There was focal cytoplasmic vacuolation, a scattered chronic inflammatory infiltrate and rare mitotic figures. Immunohistochemistry showed staining for pan-cytokeratin, human milk factor globulin, CK5/6 and calretinin, and no staining for hCG, CEA or BG8. The authors stated that this pattern strongly favoured deciduoid pleural mesothelioma. They reviewed the literature. Deciduoid mesothelioma was first described in the peritoneum of young women without prior asbestos exposure, and those tumours behaved aggressively. Some mesotheliomas have been reported to produce hCG. The authors concluded that the case supported the view that deciduoid morphology is part of a spectrum of appearances in epithelioid mesothelioma and is not confined to the peritoneum or to young females. They stated that it can occur with previous asbestos exposure and in some cases may be associated with hCG production.

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 was a short letter to a journal describing a single patient: a 66-year-old man with a history of asbestos exposure who had a rare form of pleural mesothelioma called deciduoid mesothelioma. The letter does not say what kind of asbestos he was exposed to, in what job, or for how long. He had six weeks of night sweats and tiredness. Imaging showed a mass along the lining of his right lower chest. Tissue samples were taken during an examination of the chest cavity. Under the microscope, the lining was replaced by sheets of large round, oval and many-sided cells. Special stains reacted with several markers, including CK5/6 and calretinin, and did not react with hCG, CEA or BG8. The authors wrote that this staining pattern strongly favoured deciduoid pleural mesothelioma. The authors concluded that the case supports an earlier suggestion that the deciduoid appearance is part of a range of appearances seen in epithelioid mesothelioma. The letter does not report the man's treatment or outcome.

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 (letter to the editor)
• Who was studied: one 66-year-old man with a history of asbestos exposure; setting given only as the authors' department in Edinburgh, UK; dates not stated
• Exposure: previous asbestos exposure; fiber type, job, duration and amount not stated
• Main results:
  • Imaging showed a mass along the pleura at the back of the patient's right lower chest
  • In the patient's biopsies, the pleura was replaced by sheets of large round, oval and many-sided cells
  • The tumour cells stained with antibodies to pan-cytokeratin, human milk factor globulin, CK5/6 and calretinin
  • The tumour cells did not stain for hCG, CEA or BG8
  • The authors wrote that the staining pattern strongly favoured a diagnosis of deciduoid pleural mesothelioma
• The authors' conclusion: The authors concluded that the case supports an earlier suggestion (by Shanks and colleagues) that the deciduoid appearance is part of a spectrum of appearances found in epithelioid mesothelioma

Topics

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

Medical terms in this study, explained in our Lexicon: Pleural Mesothelioma, Asbestos Exposure, Peritoneal Mesothelioma, Mesothelioma, Thoracoscopy, Visceral Pleura, Pleura, Eosinophilic.

Related studies

• Primary malignant deciduoid peritoneal mesothelioma: a report of the cytohistological and immunohistochemical appearances — H. Ustun, H.M. Astarci, et al. (2011)
• Primary malignant gonadal mesotheliomas and asbestos — R.L. Attanoos, A.R. Gibbs (2000)
• Expression of calretinin, thrombomodulin, keratin 5, and mesothelin in lung carcinomas of different types: an immunohistochemical analysis of 596 tumors in comparison with epithelioid mesotheliomas of the pleura — M. Miettinen, M. Sarlomo-Rikala (2003)
• Value of mesothelial and epithelial antibodies in distinguishing diffuse peritoneal mesothelioma in females from serous papillary carcinoma of the ovary and peritoneum — R.L. Attanoos, R. Webb, et al. (2002)
• Immunohistochemical panels for differentiating epithelial malignant mesothelioma from lung adenocarcinoma: a study with logistic regression analysis — R. Carella, G. Deleonardi, et al. (2001)
• Immunohistochemical analysis still has a limited role in the diagnosis of malignant mesothelioma. A study of thirteen antibodies — F. Roberts, C.M. Harper, et al. (2001)

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