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Japanese Journal of Clinical Oncology 30:163-166 (2000)
© 2000 Foundation for Promotion of Cancer Research

Secretion of hCG/ß-hCG by Squamous Cell Carcinoma of the Lung in a 31-year-old Female Smoker

Junji Yoshida1, Kanji Nagai1, Mitsuyo Nishimura1, Kenro Takahashi1, Ryutaro Kakinuma1, Yutaka Nishiwaki1 and Tomoyuki Yokose2,+

1Department of Thoracic Oncology and 2Pathology Laboratory, National Cancer Center Hospital East, Kashiwa, Chiba, Japan

We describe a rare case of pulmonary squamous cell carcinoma secreting human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) and its ß-subunit (ß-hCG) in a young female smoker. A 31-year-old mother of one child had been suffering from dysfunctional uterine bleeding for about 1 year. Pelvic examinations and abdominal ultrasonography yielded no abnormal findings and no signs of pregnancy. She developed a pain in the right chest and a huge (12 x 10 cm) squamous cell carcinoma was diagnosed in the right lower lobe. The serum hCG and ß-hCG levels were high: hCG 5611 mIU/ml (normal upper limit 0.7 mIU/ml), ß-hCG 12 238 mIU/ml (normal upper limit 0.5 mIU/ml). The patient underwent right lower lobectomy and systematic lymph node dissection. Microscopic study showed a poorly differentiated squamous cell carcinoma. The patho­logical stage was T2N0M0, stage IB. Immunohistochemical staining of the tumor was strongly positive for hCG. The serum hCG level returned to normal 1 month after the operation, while an additional 2 months were necessary for the ß-hCG level to normalize. Dysfunctional uterine bleeding disappeared and the patient is doing well, with no signs of recurrence, 9 months after the resection.

+ For reprints and all correspondence: Junji Yoshida, Department of Thoracic Oncology, National Cancer Center Hospital East, 5–1, Kashiwanoha 6-chome, Kashiwa, Chiba, 277-8577, Japan. E-mail: jyoshida@east.ncc.go.jpAbbreviations: hCG, human chorionic gonadotropin; ß-hCG, ß-subunit of human chorionic gonadotropin; SCC, squamous cell carcinoma; HB, hepatitis type B; NSCLC, non-small cell lung cancer


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