Histologic characteristics of gonadotropin-producing hepatoblastoma: a survey of seven cases from Japan.

Histologic studies of the human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) producing hepatoblastoma were made for seven cases encountered in Japan. It was found in all cases that multinucleated tumor giant cells in several figures were admixed in usual hepatoblastoma tissue and one of them was confirmed to be hCG positive immunohistochemically. Round and clear cells adjacent to or separate from the giant cells showed squamoid metaplasia with occasional pearl formation. These histologic elements were highly suspected to be derivatives of choriocarcinoma and were ascertained to be characteristic of the hCG-producing hepatoblastomas. Only one among seven cases survived long after hepatic lobectomy. At the time of recurrence, none showed elevation of serum or urinary hCG level, while serum alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) level became high again. That was because recurrent tumors contained none of the characteristic elements that had been found in preceding tumors.