Solitary fibrous tumor of the adrenal gland with unusual immunophenotype: a potential diagnostic problem and a brief review of endocrine organ solitary fibrous tumor

Endocr Pathol. 2010 Jun;21(2):125-9. doi: 10.1007/s12022-010-9113-z.

Abstract

Solitary fibrous tumor was initially thought to be a pleura-based tumor. However, over the last two decades, its involvement in a variety of extrapleural sites gained recognition. Nonetheless, a primary involvement of the endocrine organs is rare, and in this report, we detail an instance where the tumor affected the adrenal gland of a 71-year-old Arab man. On histology, besides the typical morphologic features seen in solitary fibrous tumor, the neoplasm also exhibited unusual features on immunohistochemistry such as positive staining for cytokeratin AE1/3 and calponin in conjunction with diffuse expression for S-100. The genetic tests for t(X:18) as seen in synovial sarcoma were negative, and the overall histological appearance favored a diagnosis of solitary fibrous tumor. To the best of our knowledge, this report represents the fifth case of a solitary fibrous tumor primarily occurring in the adrenal gland. The differential diagnoses of this neoplasm in our case and a brief summary of solitary fibrous tumor primarily involving the various endocrine organs are presented.

Publication types

  • Case Reports
  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Adrenal Gland Neoplasms / genetics
  • Adrenal Gland Neoplasms / metabolism
  • Adrenal Gland Neoplasms / pathology*
  • Aged
  • Humans
  • Immunohistochemistry
  • Immunophenotyping
  • In Situ Hybridization, Fluorescence
  • Male
  • Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction
  • Solitary Fibrous Tumors / genetics
  • Solitary Fibrous Tumors / metabolism
  • Solitary Fibrous Tumors / pathology*