AN AUTOPSY CASE OF PERIPHERAL NEUROEPITHELIOMA IN POSTERIOR MEDIASTINUM WITH P53 POINT MUTATION

An 18-year old male was admitted to our hospital complaining of back p ain. His chest computed tomography showed a tumor in the posterior med iastinum, Open biopsy was performed, and a diagnosis of peripheral neu roepithelioma was made. No genetic abnormalities were detected in the DNA obtained from the biopsy specimen. He received chemotherapy and ra diation several times. These treatment regimens were effective, but he relapsed 14 months later and died of respiratory failure due to tumor growth. Autopsy examination revealed a large tumor which occupied alm ost the entire right thoracic cavity, but there was no evidence of met astasis to other organs, Chromosomal translocation t(14;17) (q24;p12.2 ) and point mutation of exon 5 of the p53 gene were detected.