DIAGNOSIS OF RECURRENT DESMOPLASTIC SMALL ROUND-CELL TUMOR BY FINE-NEEDLE ASPIRATION - A CASE-REPORT

BACKGROUND: Desmoplastic small round cell tumor (DSRCT) is a recently described neoplasm characterized by aggressive biology, occurrence in body cavities, expression Of antigens from multiple cell lineages and a specific translocation between chromosomes 11 and 22. Most of the pu blished information on this neoplasm is histologic. The case presented here enabled presentation of the cytomorphologic and immunocytochemic al features of aspirated cytologic material obtained from this unique tumor. CASE: The cytologic, histologic, radiologic and clinical featur es of a DSRCT from a 17-year-old patient are presented. Although the i nitial diagnosis in this case was made on histology, recurrence was pr oven by fine needle aspiration biopsy (FNAB). CONCLUSION: The presence of sheets or clusters of small round malignant cells, associated with shards of dense fibroconnective tissue, in FNAB should lead the cytol ogist to consider the diagnosis of DSRCT.