Hepatoid adenocarcinoma of the stomach: a case report

Hepatogastroenterology. 1996 Jul-Aug;43(10):995-9.

Abstract

A patient with primary gastric carcinoma showing a high level of serum a-fetoprotein (AFP) (368 ng/ml) is described. Subtotal gastrectomy was performed, and a month after surgery the level of serum AFP fell rapidly to within normal limits. Histologically, two types of cells coexisted in the tumor: medullary-type cells resembling trabecular-type hepatocellular carcinoma, and moderately differentiated adenocarcinoma cells. The cells of the former type were arranged mostly in a trabecular pattern with bile granules, but also showed a scirrhous pattern in a restricted area. Immunohistochemistry demonstrated that both types of tumor cells stained positively for AFP. This tumor, which should be classified as a hepatoid adenocarcinoma of the stomach, is of interest because of its rarity, bile secretion (indicating marked differentiation toward a hepatocyte form), and two cellular arrangements-trabecular and scirrhous.

Publication types

  • Case Reports

MeSH terms

  • Adenocarcinoma / diagnosis
  • Adenocarcinoma / pathology*
  • Adenocarcinoma / surgery
  • Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / diagnosis
  • Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / pathology*
  • Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / surgery
  • Gastrectomy
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Stomach / pathology*
  • Stomach Neoplasms / diagnosis
  • Stomach Neoplasms / pathology*
  • Stomach Neoplasms / surgery
  • alpha-Fetoproteins / analysis

Substances

  • alpha-Fetoproteins