[Case of primary hepatic neuroendocrine carcinoma diagnosed by needle biopsy].

The patient was a 55-year-old man with a large hepatic tumor measuring 12 × 12 cm in the left lobe. To obtain the histological diagnosis, the target liver biopsy was performed. Histologically, the tumor revealed as a neuroendocrine carcinoma. After the diagnosis, he received the chemotherapy (CTX) with etoposide and cisplatin. Serum levels of NSE and the tumor size were decreased after the first course of CTX. We here report a case of primary hepatic neuroendocrine carcinoma treated with CTX following the diagnosis by the needle biopsy.

Poorly differentiated endocrine carcinoma of the pancreas responded to gemcitabine: Case report.

Poorly differentiated endocrine carcinoma (PDEC) of the pancreas is a rare and aggressive tumor. First-line treatment is commonly a combination of etoposide and cisplatin, but there is no consensus regarding further treatment recommendations. In this report, we describe a case of pancreatic PDEC treated with gemcitabine as third-line chemotherapy. A 62-year-old man with pancreatic PDEC was administered etoposide plus cisplatin as first-line treatment; he then received irinotecan for tumor relapse. However, because irinotecan induced ileus in this patient, we chose gemcitabine as third-line chemotherapy. After two cycles of gemcitabine (1000 mg/m(2) on days 1, 8 and 15 every 4 wk), a partial tumor response was noted by computed tomography (approximately 68% reduction in tumor size). Our patient survived for 15 mo after diagnosis. This is a rare case of unresectable pancreatic PDEC, which showed a partial response to gemcitabine after the failure of two other regimens. Gemcitabine could be an effective treatment option for pancreatic PDEC that is resistant to other treatments.