A primary carcinoma in the liver of a foetus

Abstract

On February 20, 1935, we found a large malignant tumor in the liver of a foetus of a mare which has aborted in about the ninth month of pregnancy, and the tumor was diagnosed as primary carcinoma originated from epithelium of the bile-duct.The outlines of the pathological changes of the foetus were as follows.-The foetus is emaciated, but the lower part of the neck and the abdomen are enormously distended, and the circumference of the latter attains about 97 cm.The visible mucous membranes are slightly yellowish in colour.The abdominal cavity contains about 15000 c.c. of turbid brownish red fluid. The abdominal and thoracic cavities communicate by means of a rupture in the lower part of the diaphragm.The distended part of the neck harbors a cavity which contains about 1000 c.c. of turbid brownish-red fluid, and the cavity communicates with the thoracic cavity by a fissure at the anterior aperture of the thorax.The liver is markedly swollen and adherent to the right kidney and to the diaphragma. It weighed 3190 gm.. The right lobe includes a tumor about the size of child's head and is some-what prominent on the surface. On transverse section of this lobe, the tumor is irregularly round, 15 cm. in diameter, and shows pus like discharge, in which some small, yellowish granules can be found.The tumor is very soft, of spongy consistency, granulated and yellowish-white in colonr. The left and the middle lobes are also swollen, congested, dark greenish-yellow in colour, and haemorrhagic patches are scattered on their surface. The section of these lobes shows fine network, dark greenish in colour, and the same coloured fluid can be pressed out.Microscopic appearance.The essential elements of the tumor are epithelial cells with large deeply staining nuclei, very scanty cytoplasma, and the cells resemble more or less the epithelium of bile-ducts.On the periphery of the tumor, the tumorcelles are arranged in alveoli of irregular shape and size, and the meshwork of the stroma is abundant and composed of dense fibrous tissue.At the centre of the tumor, the connective tissue is meagre in amount and there are many granular substances which are deeply stained by haematoxylin, and necrotic or haemorrhagic areas are also observed.The remaining part of the liver is in general congested, inter-stitial tissue is developed abundantly around each lobule (mono-lobular cirrhosis) and the cells of the liver parenchyma are small and irregular in shape.Namely, the tumor is very malignant and embryonic in type, and it may be considerd as a carcinoma originated from the epithelium of the bile-duct.