GASTRIC ADENOCARCINOMA OF FUNDIC GLAND TYPE (CHIEF CELL PREDOMINANT TYPE) TREATED WITH ENDOSCOPIC ASPIRATION MUCOSECTOMY

Upper endoscopy screening in an asymptomatic 56-year-old man showed a small, yellowish elevated lesion with a central depression on the posterior wall in the gastric cardia. Biopsy specimens from this lesion were suspicious of carcinoid tumor. We suspected this lesion to be a sporadic gastric carcinoid tumor with a diameter of 5 mm, limited to the mucosal layer. We then performed an endoscopic aspiration mucosectomy with a cap-fitted endoscope. Microscopically, the lesion obtained from the resected specimen was minimally invasive to the submucosa and showed highly differentiated columnar cells in irregularly anastomosing glands. Immunohistology was positive for pepsinogen-I, and MUC6, partially positive for H(+)/K(+)-ATPase, and negative for MUC5AC. In addition, it was positive for synaptophysin and CD56, and negative for chromogranin A. We finally diagnosed the patient as having gastric adenocarcinoma of fundic gland type (chief cell predominant type) with minimal invasion (100 mu m) to the submucosa. Surveillance endoscopy with biopsy specimens and abdominal computed tomography at 1 year revealed no evidence of tumor recurrence. We herein report this rare case of gastric adenocarcinoma of fundic gland type (chief cell predominant type).