PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Mustafa, Aynur
AU  - Bozdağ, Zehra
AU  - Tepe, Neslihan B.
AU  - Ozcan, Huseyin C.
TI  - An unexpected reason for elevated human chorionic gonadotropin in a young woman <em>Cervical squamous carcinoma</em>
AID  - 10.15537/smj.2016.8.14529
DP  - 2016 Aug 01
TA  - Saudi Medical Journal
PG  - 905--907
VI  - 37
IP  - 8
4099  - http://smj.org.sa/content/37/8/905.short
4100  - http://smj.org.sa/content/37/8/905.full
SO  - Saudi Med J2016 Aug 01; 37
AB  - Human chorionic gonadotropin has been used for decades, in addition to specific investigations, to detect pregnancy, trophoblastic tumors, as well as congenital defects. Rarely, it can be elevated in non-trophoblastic tumors such as squamous cell cancers and germ cell tumors. A 33-year-old Asian Syrian female had irregular menses accompanied with feelings of heaviness in the vagina. In addition to routine investigations, we measured the serum beta human chorionic gonadotropin (ß-HCG) level (based on the patient’s complaint of amenorrhea), which was 50.05 ml UI/ml. Cervical biopsy revealed a non-keratinized large cell squamous carcinoma. After excluding other causes, ß-hCG elevation was explained by the ectopic secretion of cancer cells line. Cervical biopsy was suggestive of large cell non-keratinizing squamous cell carcinoma and positive for human chorionic gonadotropin on immunohistochemistry. As a result, we manage the possibility of ectopic secretion of ß-HCG from non- trophoblastic disease.