Elevated HCG and retroperitoneal adenopathy after clomiphene therapy for infertility

Abstract

In the context of an elevated human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG) with enlarged retroperitoneal nodes and absent testicular tumours, clinicians will consider a diagnosis of extragonadal germ cell tumours. We report the case of a man in his thirties who while on treatment for subfertility with clomiphene citrate was noted to have enlarged retroperitoneal nodes and elevated HCG levels of 75 IU/L. Chemotherapy with bleomycin, etoposide and cisplatin originally planned was deferred when two separate retroperitoneal nodal biopsies returned as benign fibroadipose tissue and HCG levels spontaneously down-trended to 4 IU/L within 4 months of clomiphene citrate discontinuation. Follow-up imaging revealed regression of the retroperitoneal nodes.