Successful conversion therapy for presumed granulocyte colony-stimulating factor–producing hepatocellular carcinoma: a case report

Introduction Granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) is an endogenous glycoprotein that is classically known to be important in the proliferation of hematopoietic progenitor cells and the differentiation of neutrophils. In recent years aberrant G-CSF expression has been described in various malignancies and is believed to play a role in tumor progression, however, G-CSF-producing hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is extremely rare. Here, we describe a rare case of locally advanced presumed G-CSF-producing HCC. To the best of our knowledge, this is one of the few reported cases of a patient with presumed G-CSF-producing HCC who did not exhibit any specific clinical symptoms and was successfully operated upon after undergoing conversion therapy. Case report The patient had no symptoms but a massive tumor in the right hepatic lobe accompanied by significant leukocytosis. The lesion was originally considered unresectable. Following combination therapy with transcatheter arterial chemoembolization (TACE) in conjunction with targeted therapy and immunotherapy, the tumor was successfully downstaged to a resectable state. The patient tolerated the combined regimen well without significant adverse events, and curative-intent surgical resection was performed. Postoperative immunohistochemical analysis revealed strongly positive expression of G-CSF in the HCC tissue, supporting the presumptive diagnosis of G-CSF-producing HCC, although pre-treatment serum G-CSF levels were not measured. G-CSF-producing HCC is rare and is usually linked to aggressive behavior and poor prognosis. In this case, however, no recurrence was seen at 6-month follow-up and the patient was in good general condition. Conclusions Clinicians should suspect G-CSF-producing HCC in patients with HCC who have unexplained leukocytosis. For those individuals who are not candidates for upfront resection, a combined approach using TACE, targeted therapy and immunotherapy may be a feasible therapeutic option, although further studies are needed to validate this approach.