A case of hepatic metastasis of small cell carcinoma from mixed small cell carcinoma and adenocarcinoma of the stomach

Abstract

Primary small cell carcinoma (SCC) of stomach is a rare and highly aggressive malignancy with extremely poor prognosis. We report a 71-year-old man with upper abdominal pain diagnosed as single hepatic metastasis of SCC from mixed SCC and adenocarcinoma of the stomach. An endoscopic examination showed the presence of Borrmann type 2 gastric cancer, 2 cm in size on the lesser curvature of antrum. An abdominal CT scan revealed a huge dumbbell shaped mass with peripheral arterial enhancement and central low density in left lobe of the liver. Endoscopic biopsies showed solid proliferation of small, monotonous tumor cells with hyperchromatic nuclei and scanty cytoplasm. The neoplastic cells were positive for immunostaining with anti-chromogranin and anti-synaptophysin. There were also other neoplastic cells with gland formation being positive for anti- cytokeratin. On the basis of these findings, we made a final diagnosis of mixed SCC and adenocarcinoma of the stomach. In addition, we also confirmed hepatic metastasis of SCC through the microscopic finding and immunostaining of tissues of liver mass. Conclusively, we report a case of hepatic metastasis of SCC only from mixed SCC adenocarcinoma of the stomach.