International Journal of Scientific Reports | July 2021 | Vol 7 | Issue 7 Page 360
International Journal of Scientific Reports
Paul D et al. Int J Sci Rep. 2021 Jul;7(7):360-362
http://www.sci-rep.com
pISSN 2454-2156 | eISSN 2454-2164
Case Report
Hepatocellular carcinoma with extrahepatic adrenal metastasis:
an atypical case report
Diptajit Paul, Baljit Singh*, Rakesh Dhankhar, Vivek Kaushal
INTRODUCTION
For the last 50-years, hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), the
primary liver carcinoma, possess a major worldwide risk
to public health. Although it is still more prevalent in
developing countries; there is a recent positive growth
pattern in developed countries, more so 2000 onwards, as
a consequences of higher prevalence of hepatitis C
infection and increase in consumption of alcohol. Further
appearance of extrahepatic metastasis makes it more
vulnerable. New multimodality approaches are explored in
literature for advanced metastatic disease which are
unresectable. Although local therapy and liver transplant
are carried out in a lots of case series, targeted therapies
are still the standard of care in many centres especially for
inoperable, metastatic cases. Here we present an atypical
case of multifocal hepatocellular carcinoma with
extrahepatic adrenal metastasis treated by oral targeted
agent sorafenib only.
CASE REPORT
A 62-year old male, without any other co-morbidities,
presented with upper abdomen pain of 2-months duration,
which was insidious in onset, dull aching in nature, mild
to moderate in intensity, gradually progressive and not
radiating to any other site. It was not associated with any
vomiting, altered bowel habits, or blood in stools. Patient
had no associated history of fever, weight loss, anorexia,
headache, chest or abdominal discomfort, pedal oedema or
upper gastro-intestinal bleeding. Patient was vegetarian,
non-smoker, non-alcoholic. He had a history of Koch’s 30-
years back, took anti-tubercular therapy for 6-months and
was cured completely; no history of viral hepatitis in past.
There was no history of malignancy in family members.
General physical examination revealed yellow
discoloration of palm and sclera i.e. jaundice, but no signs
of liver cirrhosis. Per abdomen examination revealed rigid
abdomen with tenderness in right hypochondrium and
hepatomegaly without any signs of ascites, dilated
abdominal vein or splenomegaly.
Complete hemogram and renal function test of the patient
were within normal limits, but liver enzymes serum
glutamic oxaloacetic transaminase (SGOT) and serum
glutamic pyruvic transaminase (SGPT) and bilirubin (both
direct and indirect) were elevated. All the relevant viral
markers like hepatitis-B (HBV), hepatitis-C (HCV) and
human immuno-deficiency virus (HIV) were negative, but
alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) was severely raised having initial
ABSTRACT
Hepatocellular carcinoma with extrahepatic metastasis are a threat to public health worldwide. Lung, bones and
abdominal lymph nodes are the major sites of metastasis from liver primary, adrenal metastasis being a less common
site. Here we present an old male presented with upper abdominal pain diagnosed as advanced, unresectable
hepatocellular carcinoma with right adrenal metastasis. Patient was treated with multi-kinase inhibitor sorafenib and
outcome was acceptable with good patient compliance.
Keywords: Hepatocellular carcinoma, Right adrenal metastasis, Upper abdominal pain, Sorafenib
Department of Radiation Oncology, Pt. B. D. Sharma PGIMS, Rohtak, Haryana, India
Received: 11 May 2021
Accepted: 02 June 2021
*Correspondence:
Dr. Baljit Singh,
E-mail: docbaljeet13@gmail.com
Copyright: © the author(s), publisher and licensee Medip Academy. This is an open-access article distributed under
the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License, which permits unrestricted non-commercial
use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.18203/issn.2454-2156.IntJSciRep20212395