Hepatic Malignant Epithelioid Hemangioendothelioma: A Case Report and Review of the Literature

By Woodall, Charles E Scoggins, Charles R; Lewis, Angela M; McMasters, Kelly M; Martin, Robert C G

Malignant epithelioid hemangioendothelioma is a rare hepatic tumor of vascular origin. It is most commonly found in young to middle aged women, and the tumors vary in reported malignant potential. Compounds such as oral contraceptive pills, poly vinyl chloride, and Thorotrast have been identified as risk factors for subsequent disease development. Radiologic (“lollipop” sign, capsular flattening) and pathologic (Factor-VIII antigen staining positive) evaluation aids in the diagnosis. As with most mesenchymal tumors, surgical resection is the most effective means of controlling local disease and preventing distant metastasis, though adjuvant therapies have been offered for those that are unresectable or not transplant candidates. We present our case of a hepatic malignant epithelioid hemangioendothelioma and a review of the English-language literature. Case Presentation

A 69-YEAR-OLD WHITE female complained of vague abdominal pain with some generalized fatigue and a 10 pound weight gain. The clinical evaluation was otherwise negative. Specifically, she had no history of hepatitis or cirrhosis, and no history of exposure to environmental agents potentially associated with malignant epithelioid hemangioendothelioma (EHE).

Computed tomography of the abdomen demonstrating a 4.0 x 5.0 x 3.0 cm mass confined to the right lobe of the liver in segments 7 and 8, suggested a malignancy, rather than focal nodular hyperplasia or hepatic adenoma given its morphology, hypervascularity, and absence of significant fat content. Liver function tests, carcinoembryonic antigen, and alpha fetal protein, were all within normal limits, and a viral hepatitis panel was negative. Upper and lower endoscopy were normal. A percutaneous core needle biopsy of the mass suggested a tumor of vascular origin likely a malignant epithelioid hemangioendothelioma because immunohistochemical stains for Factor VIII antigen, cluster of differentiation molecule (CD) 31, and CD 34 were positive.

An arteriogram confirmed the vascular nature of the mass and defined normal vascular anatomy. She underwent cholecystectomy and right hepatic lobectomy. Malignant EHE was confirmed (Figs. 1, 2). The patient tolerated the procedure well; she received no adjuvant therapy and remains well without evidence of disease at 7 years postoperatively.

Discussion

Malignant EHE represents a rare (

FIG. 1. High power photomicrograph showing the vascular channels of the tumor.

FIG. 2. Midpower photomicrograph of the tumor demonstrating the vascularity next to normal liver parenchyma.

The relative obscurity and heterogeneity of this tumor makes diagnosis via imaging difficult, though some recent reports have expanded the knowledge base in regards to radiologic findings. The lesions are most frequently peripheral in location. Malignant EHE may manifest as a single nodule or diffuse bilobar disease, which can coalesce into a larger dominant mass. This coalescence was first described by Fumi et al.18 when they proposed a two tiered classification system based on nodular or diffuse disease status. Plain abdominal x-rays frequently show right upper quadrant calcifications (Table 1 ).7 The tumors are heterogeneous by ultrasound; they may be hyper-, hypo-, or isoechoic.19 Cross sectional modalities such as computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging can reveal the recently described “lollipop sign,” with a hepatic or portal vein terminating at the periphery of the mass giving rise to a unique imaging characteristic not commonly seen with other hepatic malignancies.20 Capsular retraction from peritumoral fibrosis may also cause “flattening” of the surface of the liver. Computed tomography may note a hypervascular periphery; additionally, the MR technique of administering superparamagnetic iron oxide has been proposed as a test to furthermore delineate these tumors because of their avid uptake of this contrast medium.21

TABLE 1 Useful Adjuncts in Diagnosing Epithelioid Hemangioendothelioma

Laboratory data is usually nondiagnostic. Tumor markers, such as carcinoembryonic antigen and afetoprotein are generally normal. A recent case series identified serum thyrotropin elevation in seven patients, apparently from a thyrotropin analogue secreted from the tumor.22 This was also reported in a separate case report of a woman before she was treated with transplantation, and was suggested as a postoperative tumor marker to follow patients for early evidence of recurrence.23 Liver function tests may be mildly abnormal, including gamma-GTP (glutamyl transpeptidase).24 Patients may also have an elevated plasma Factor VIII level.

TABLE 2. Review of Cases and Outcomes of Malignant Epithelioid Hemangioendothelioma

Pathologically, the tumors have vascular invasion, a finding that is not surprising given their vascular origins, with the endothelial cells being “epithelioid” or “histiocytoid” in nature.2 Immunohistochemical staining for epithelial markers such as factor VHI-related antigen, CD-31, and CD-34 aid in the diagnosis and confirm its endothelial origin, a pathognomonic feature. Like many mesenchymal tumors, the determination of malignancy is indirect, by such factors as mitotic index and cellularity, as well as clinical behavior.7

Because the hepatic variant of the tumor is more aggressive, up to 60 per cent of patients get metastatic disease, most commonly in the lungs as is the case with most sarcomatous tumors.5 Advanced local dis ease can be problematic as well. Complications such as spontaneous rupture25 and adult Kasabach-Merritt syndrome (a vascular lesion that triggers platelet trapping and subsequent consumptive thrombocytopenia)26 have been reported. In advanced disease, Budd-Chiari may be encountered.27

Similar to other mesenchymal neoplasms, operative therapy remains the mainstay of treatment for patients with malignant EHE.28 Though one case report does identify spontaneous regression in an elderly female with biopsy proven disease,29 most authors recommend definitive operative intervention. As with other hepatic malignancies, the type of operative therapy being recommended is shifting. Resection for localized disease is the generally accepted modality, though some papers report a more fulminant course complicated by recurrence after curative resection.30 Orthotopic liver transplantation for diffuse disease has shown durable success, with survival rates of 75 per cent at 5 years and 60 per cent disease free rates,1 similar to that of patients who undergo transplantation for other hepatic tumors.31 The disease can return in the allograft.5 Despite this, some authors have even recommended it for patients with extrahepatic disease,32 followed by chemotherapy, usually doxorubicin or 5-fluorouracil. Adjuvant therapies, such as arterial chemo-embolization have been reported as a viable bridge to transplantation.33 Radio-frequency ablation, commonly used in the liver for other malignancies, has been used successfully in bone disease34 and would likely serve some purpose in hepatic manifestations of disease. Antineoplastic drugs such as thalidomide have shown benefit as adjuvant therapies or primary treatment for unresectable disease35 and interferon alpha-2B has been used in combination with bilobar hepatic resection with success in case reports.36 Therapeutic devascularization has been attempted in patients with nonresectable disease, with poor results.15 Because of the rarity of the tumor and nonuniform treatment of patients, as well as the varied nature of the disease, predicting prognosis is somewhat challenging. Most publications seem to suggest somewhere between 40 and 75 per cent 5-year survival,15 though there are certainly case reports of patients at both extremes of this spectrum. Whereas some may succumb early, many reports suggest long survival after resection, and a successful term pregnancy has even been described after extirpation of widespread metastatic disease.37 Less is known about truly long-term (greater than 5 year) outcomes. Malignant hepatic epithelioid hemangioendothelioma remains a rare entity, addressed in the literature mostly by case reports (Table T). Its variable nature and clinical course make standardized staging, therapy, and prognosis difficult. While multiple causative factors have been suggested, these remain little more than loose associations. Most authors recommend surgical therapy as standard of care, and this seems appropriate given that most other mesenchymal tumors are best treated operatively. Transplantation has been effective, with survivals in line with other hepatic malignancies treated by this therapy. A large clinical series seems unlikely given the infrequency with which this tumor is encountered; case series and reports such as this one will likely remain as the sole source of reported clinical literature for this malignancy.

REFERENCES

1. Hertl M, Cosimi AB. Liver transplantation for malignancy. Oncologist 2005;10:269-81.

2. Weiss SW, Enzinger FM. Epithelioid hemangioendothelioma: A vascular tumor often mistaken for a carcinoma. Cancer 1982;50:970- 81.

3. Pokharna RK, Garg PK, Gupta SD, et al. Primary epithelioid haemangioendothelioma of the liver: Case report and review of the literature. J Clin Pathol 1997;50:1029-31.

4. Matsushita M, Shimizu S, Nagasawa M, et al. Epithelioid hemangioendothelioma of the liver: Imaging diagnosis of a rare hepatic tumor. Dig Surg 2005;22:416-8.

5. Mani H, Van Thiel DH. Mesenchymal tumors of the liver. Clin Liver Dis 2001;5:219-57.

6. Uchimura K, Nakamuta M, Osoegawa M, et al. Hepatic epithelioid hemangioendothelioma. J Clin Gastroenterol 2001 ;32: 431-4.

7. Makhlouf HR, Ishak KG, Goodman ZD. Epithelioid hemangioendothelioma of the liver: A clinicopathologic study of 137 cases. Cancer 1999;85:562-82.

8. Emre S, McKenna GJ. Liver tumors in children. Pediatr Transplant 2004;8:632-8.

9. Meirowitz NB, Guzman ER, Underberg-Davis SJ, et al. Hepatic hemangioendothelioma: Prenatal sonographic findings and evolution of the lesion. J Clin Ultrasound 2000;28:258-63.

10. Garcia-Botella A, Diez-Valladares L, Martin-Antona E, et al. Epithelioid hemangioendothelioma of the liver. J Hepatobiliary Pancreat Surg 2006;13:167-71.

11. Dean PJ, Haggitt RC, O’Hara CJ. Malignant epithelioid hemangioendothelioma of the liver in young women. Relationship to oral contraceptive use. Dean Am J Surg Pathol. 1985;9: 695-704.

12. Ishak KG, Sesterhenn IA, Goodman ZD, et al. Epithelioid hemangioendothelioma of the liver: A clinicopathologic and follow- up study of 32 cases. Hum Pathol 1984;15:839-52.

13. Shin MS, Carpenter JT Jr, Ho KJ. Epithelioid hemangioendothelioma: CT manifestations and possible linkage to vinyl chloride exposure. J Comput Assist Tomogr 1991;15:505-7.

14. Gelin M, Van de Stadt J, Rickaert F, et al. Epithelioid hemangioendothelioma of the liver following contact with vinyl chloride. Recurrence after orthotopic liver transplantation. J Hepatol 1989;8:99-106.

15. Lauffer JM, Zimmermann A, Krahenbuhl L, et al. Epithelioid hemangioendothelioma of the liver. A rare hepatic tumor. Cancer 1996;78:2318-27.

16. Dail DH, Liebow AA, Gmelich JT, et al. Intravascular, bronchiolar, and alveolar tumor of the lung (IVBAT). An analysis of twenty cases of a peculiar sclerosing endothelial tumor. Cancer 1983;51:452-64.

17. Terada T, Nakanuma Y, Hoso M, et al. Hepatic epithelioid hemangioendothelioma in primary biliary cirrhosis. Gastroenterology 1989;97:810-1.

18. Furui S, Itai Y, Ohtomo K, et al. Hepatic epithelioid hemangioendothelioma: Report of five cases. Radiology 1989;171: 63- 8.

19. Levy AD. Malignant liver tumors. Clin Liver Dis 2002;6: 147- 64.

20. Alomari AI. The lollipop sign: A new cross-sectional sign of hepatic epithelioid hemangioendothelioma. Eur J Radiol 2006;59:460- 4.

21. Kehagias DT, Moulopoulos LA, Antoniou A, et al. Hepatic epithelioid hemangioendothelioma: MR imaging findings. Hepatogastroenterology 2000;47:1711-3.

22. Ayling RM, Davenport M, Hadzic N, et al. Hepatic hemangioendothelioma associated with production of humoral thyrotropin-like factor. J Pediatr 2001;138:932-5.

23. Mucha K, Foroncewicz B, Zieniewicz K, et al. Patient with liver epithelioid hemangioendothelioma treated by transplantation: 3 years’ observation. Transplant Proc 2006;38:231-3.

24. Furuta K, Sodeyama T, Usuda S, et al. Epithelioid hemangioendothelioma of the liver diagnosed by liver biopsy under laparoscopy. Am J Gastroenterol 1992;87:797-800.

25. Lau WY, Dewar GA, Li AK. Spontaneous rupture of hepatic epithelioid haemangio-endothelioma. Aust N Z J Surg 1989; 59:972-4.

26. Frider B, Bruno A, Selser J, et al. Kasabach-Merrit syndrome and adult hepatic epithelioid hemangioendothelioma an unusual association. J Hepatol 2005;42:282-3.

27. Clements D, Hubscher S, West R, et al. Epithelioid haemangioendothelioma. A case report. J Hepatol 1986;2:441-9.

28. Mehrabi A, Kashfi A, Schemmer P, et al. Surgical treatment of primary hepatic epithelioid hemangioendothelioma. Transplantation 2005;80(1 Suppl):S109-12.

29. Otrock ZK, Al-Kutoubi A, Kattar MM, et al. Spontaneous complete regression of hepatic epithelioid haemangioendothelioma. Lancet Oncol 2006;7:439-41.

30. Ben-Haim M, Roayaie S, Ye MQ, et al. Hepatic epithelioid hemangioendothelioma: Resection or transplantation, which and when? Liver Transpl Surg 1999;5:526-31.

31. Nissen NN, Cavazzoni E, Tran TT, Poordad FP. Emerging role of transplantation for primary liver cancers. Cancer J 2004; 10:88-96.

32. O’Grady JG. Treatment options for other hepatic malignancies. Liver Transpl 2000;6(Suppl 2):S23-9.

33. St Peter SD, Moss AA, Huettl EA, et al. Chemoembolization followed by orthotopic liver transplant for epithelioid hemangioendothelioma. Clin Transplant 2003;17:549-53.

34. Rosenthal DI, Treat ME, Mankin HJ, et al. Treatment of epithelioid hemangioendothelioma of bone using a novel combined approach. Skeletal Radiol 2001;30:219-22.

35. Mascarenhas RC, Sanghvi AN, Friedlander L, et al. Thalidomide inhibits the growth and progression of hepatic epithelioid hemangioendothelioma. Oncology 2004;67:471-5.

36. Galvao FH, Bakonyi-Neto A, Machado MA, et al. Interferon alpha-2B and liver resection to treat multifocal hepatic epithelioid hemangioendothelioma: A relevant approach to avoid liver transplantation. Transplant Proc 2005;37:4354-8.

37. Myles TD, Strassner HT, Wong DJ. Pregnancy after treatment of epithelioid hemangioendothelioma. A case report. J Reprod Med 1994;39:52-4.

CHARLES E. WOODALL, M.D., CHARLES R. SCOGGINS, M.D., ANGELA M. LEWIS, M.D.,

KELLY M. MCMASTERS, M.D., PH.D., ROBERT C.G. MARTIN, M.D.

From the Department of Surgery, Division of Surgical Oncology, James Graham Brown Cancer Center,

University of Louisville School of Medicine, Louisville, Kentucky

Address correspondence and reprint requests to Robert C.G. Martin, M.D., University of Louisville School of Medicine, 315 East Broadway Suite 312, Louisville, KY 40202. E-mail: [email protected].

Copyright Southeastern Surgical Congress Jan 2008

(c) 2008 American Surgeon, The. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.