Paraganglioma of seminal vesicle and chromophobe renal cell carcinoma: a case report and literature review

• Main Authors: César Augusto Alvarenga, José Manuel Lopes, João Vinagre, Paula Itagyba Paravidino, Marcelo Alvarenga, Adilson Prando, Lísias Nogueira Castilho, Paula Soares, Athanase Billis
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Associação Paulista de Medicina
• Series: São Paulo Medical Journal
• Subjects: Paraganglioma; Carcinoma, renal cell; Seminal vesicles; Kidney neoplasms; Mutation
• Online Access: http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1516-31802012000100010&lng=en&tlng=en

CONTEXT: Extra-adrenal paragangliomas are rare tumors that have been reported in many locations, including the kidney, urethra, urinary bladder, prostate, spermatic cord, gallbladder, uterus and vagina. CASE REPORT: This report describes, for the first time to the best of our knowledge, a primary paraganglioma of the seminal vesicle occurring in a 61-year-old male. The patient presented persistent arterial hypertension and a previous diagnosis of chromophobe renal cell carcinoma. It was hypothesized that the seminal vesicle tumor could be a metastasis from the chromophobe renal cell carcinoma. Immunohistochemical characterization revealed expression of synaptophysin and chromogranin in tumor cell nests and peripheral S100 protein expression in sustentacular cells. Succinate dehydrogenase A and B-related (SDHA and SDHB) expression was present in both tumors. CONCLUSIONS: No genetic alterations to the VHL and SDHB genes were detected in either the tumor tissue or tissues adjacent to the tumor, which led us to rule out a hereditary syndrome that could explain the association between paraganglioma and chromophobe renal cell carcinoma in a patient with arterial hypertension.