Gallbladder carcinoma producing alpha-fetoprotein

Alpha-fete protein (AFP) is a clinically useful marker for hepatocellular c arcinoma, hepatoblastoma, and nonseminomatous testicular tumors. Elevated s erum AFP can also occur with tumors of the gastrointestinal tract, pancreas , lung, kidney, and urachus. Serum AFP can also be minimally elevated in no nmalignant conditions including acute and chronic hepatitis, cirrhosis, and pregnancy. Reports of gallbladder carcinoma that elaborate AFP are extremely rare, and almost all represent papillary carcinomas. Until now, there have been only two reports in the world literature that describe undifferentiated gallbla dder carcinoma with elevated serum AFP. The authors present one case of und ifferentiated gallbladder carcinoma and another case of poorly differentiat ed gallbladder carcinoma with increased serum AFP. In both cases, serum AFP was particularly useful in documenting metastatic recurrence of gallbladde r carcinoma.