Extragonadal Germ-Cell Tumor: A Rare Differential Diagnosis of a Cervical Lump in a Young Man

Abstract

In this case report, we discuss the potential diagnostic difficulty of identifying the cause or origin of a cervical swelling, a clinical situation often encountered in otolaryngology patients. A 30-year-old man came to us with a painless left cervical lump that he had noticed 8 weeks earlier. A series of examinations—including various biopsies, computed tomography, and extensive staging procedures—could not establish the diagnosis. We eventually identified the mass as an extragonadal germ-cell tumor. The diagnosis was established only after additional serologic testing and detection of tumor markers specific for extragonadal germ-cell tumor.