An Unusual Case of Primary Retroperitoneal Germ Cell Tumour in a Young Man

Authors

• Maria João Raposo Linhares Serpa Internal Medicine Department, Hospital Beatriz Ângelo, Lisbon, Portugal
• Susana Franco Internal Medicine Department, Hospital Beatriz Ângelo, Lisbon, Portugal
• Diana Repolho Internal Medicine Department, Hospital Beatriz Ângelo, Lisbon, Portugal
• Francisco Branco Oncology Department, Hospital Beatriz Ângelo, Lisbon, Portugal
• João Gramaça Oncology Department, Hospital Beatriz Ângelo, Lisbon, Portugal
• José Ferreira Júnior Internal Medicine Department, Hospital Beatriz Ângelo, Lisbon, Portugal

mariajoaoserpa10@gmail.com

Keywords

Abstract

Some 2–5% of germ cell tumours are of extragonadal origin, with a retroperitoneal location being very rare. The majority of retroperitoneal germ cell tumours have metastasized from a testicular tumour. These tumours are diagnosed incidentally or symptomatically and nearly all present with high alpha-fetoprotein and lactate dehydrogenase levels.
We describe the unusual case of a 31-year-old man with a yolk-sac, retroperitoneal germ cell tumour, with normal serum alpha-fetoprotein and lactate dehydrogenase levels, which has not previously been described. A testicular tumour was excluded by physical examination and additional tests. Our diagnosis was based on a high level of suspicion and histopathological results. As far as we know, this is the first case described with these characteristics.