Jaques Waisberg, MD, Rua das Figueiras 550 apto.134 Bairro Jardim, Santo André -SP 09080-300, Brazil. jaqueswaisberg@uol.com.br
Article-Type of This Article
Case Report
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World J Gastroenterol. Jun 28, 2006; 12(24): 3944-3947 Published online Jun 28, 2006. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v12.i24.3944
Neuroendocrine gastric carcinoma expressing somatostatin: A highly malignant, rare tumor
Jaques Waisberg, Leandro Luongo Matos, Ana Maria Amaral Antonio Mader, Sérgio Pezzolo, Esmeralda Miristene Eher, Vera Luiza Capelozzi, Manlio Basilio Speranzini
Jaques Waisberg, Department of Surgery, Faculty of Medicine of ABC, Santo André, Brazil
Leandro Luongo Matos, Faculty of Medicine of ABC, Santo André, São Paulo, Brazil
Ana Maria Amaral Antonio Mader, Department of Pathology, Faculty of Medicine of ABC, Santo André, Brazil
Sérgio Pezzolo, Department of Surgery, Faculty of Medicine of ABC, Santo André, Brazil
Esmeralda Miristene Eher, Department of Pathology, Faculty of Medicine, São Paulo University, Brazil
Vera Luiza Capelozzi, Department of Pathology, Faculty of Medicine, São Paulo University, Brazil
Manlio Basilio Speranzini, Department of Surgery, Faculty of Medicine of ABC, Santo André, Brazil
Author contributions: All authors contributed equally to the work.
Correspondence to: Jaques Waisberg, MD, Rua das Figueiras 550 apto.134 Bairro Jardim, Santo André -SP 09080-300, Brazil. jaqueswaisberg@uol.com.br
Telephone: +55-11-44362461 Fax: +55-11-44362160
Received: December 29, 2005 Revised: February 10, 2006 Accepted: February 18, 2006 Published online: June 28, 2006
Abstract
Poorly differentiated gastric neuroendocrine carcinomas, although rare, deserve particular attention, as they are aggressive and have an extremely poor prognosis. In this report we describe a gastric neuroendocrine carcinoma with rapidly fatal outcome. Immunohistological staining of the resected specimens revealed that the tumor was an endocrine carcinoma. The tumor disclosed intense immunoreactivity to pan-neuroendocrine markers and diffuse somatostatin immunoreactivity. There were no psammoma bodies and no demonstrable association with von Recklinghausen’s neurofibromatosis. In the gastrointestinal tract, neuroendocrine tumors producing predominantly somatostatin have been described only in the duodenum. To the best of our knowledge, the present report is the second case report of a neuroendocrine gastric carcinoma expressing diffusely somatostatin as the only neuroendocrine regulatory peptide.
