Gastric Neuroendocrine Carcinoma with Rapid Progression
Maho Iwamoto, Takuji Gotoda, Yasuhiro Noda, Mitsuru Esaki, Mitsuhiko Moriyama, Nao Yoshida, Tadatoshi Takayama, Hiroko Kobayashi, Shinobu Masuda
Abstract
As gastric neuroendocrine carcinoma (NEC) is a rapidly growing cancer, most cases are diagnosed at advanced stages. We herein report a 74-year-old woman with an early-stage gastric NEC whose history included endoscopic submucosal dissection treatment for three early-stage gastric cancer lesions five years prior to the current presentation. We also describe the changes observed over time. An endoscopic examination during follow-up revealed an NEC (measuring 6 mm) in the gastric vestibule, for which distal gastrectomy was performed. Four months before surgery, the carcinoma exhibited specific morphological changes and lymphovascular invasion (despite the tumor being stage 1), suggesting a high-grade NEC.