Choriocarcinoma Presenting as Metastatic Carcinoma of Unknown Primary Origin with Growing Masses at Abdominal Wall

Abstract

Malignancy of unknown primary origin is a challenging clinical problem. We report a 50-year-old woman with growing abdominal wall masses for one year. Tumor biopsy initially reported a metastatic squamous cell carcinoma. Systemic survey did not identify the primary site, but two metastatic lung nodules. The patient was treated with palliative resection of the abdominal wall masses. The surgical pathology, however, proved the diagnosis as choriocarcinoma, which was further confirmed by high serum beta-human chorionic gonadotropin levels. We review this rare but highly curable disease, and highlight the importance of listing choriocarcinoma as a differential diagnosis in women presenting with malignancy of unknown primary origin.