Case report

Primary hepatic embryonal sarcoma masquerading as metastatic ovarian cancer

Peter Kullar¹ , Christopher Stonard² , Neville Jamieson¹ , Emmanuel Huguet¹ , Raaj Praseedom¹ and Asif Jah¹

¹  Department of Hepatobiliary and Transplant Surgery, Addenbrooke's Hospital, Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Cambridge CB2 2QQ, UK

²  Department of Histopathology, Chesterfield Royal Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, Chesterfield, Derbyshire DE4 3GJ, UK

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World Journal of Surgical Oncology 2009, 7:55doi:10.1186/1477-7819-7-55

Published:	23 June 2009

Abstract

Background

Hepatic embryonal sarcoma (HES) is a rare but aggressive primary tumor of the liver occurring most frequently in childhood.

Case presentation

We report a case of a 52 year old woman having previously undergone treatment for ovarian serous papillary carcinoma who subsequently presented with a large solitary mass in the liver. Initially this was presumed to be metastasis from the ovarian primary however, on further examination it was shown to be a primary hepatic embryonal sarcoma.

Conclusion

Primary liver tumors should be considered in differential diagnoses in patients with ovarian cancer who subsequently present with liver tumors. This is particularly important when there is no direct evidence of recurrence of ovarian cancer.