Askin's tumor - A rare case report and literature review

Askin's tumour (synonym: primitive neuro-ectodermal tumor) is a rare neoplasm of the chest wall. in 1979 askin and rosai described an unique clinicopathological entity,characterised as a malignant small-cell tumour of the soft tissues of the chest wall in childhood and adolescence. we report on a case of a 30-year old male who had a massive tumour in the left thorax. the clinical symptoms were cough and increasing dyspnoea. the tumour was revealed as a primitive neuro-ectodermal tumor (pnet) compatible with askin's tumor by ct-guided fine needle aspiration. immunohistochemical studies showed positive staining for cd 99. in our case,radiotherapy followed by chemotherapy was given. microscopy and immunohistological stain of the specific marker-neuron-specific enolase-are essential. multimodal treatment allows a long-term survival,but often the prognosis is variable.