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Background and Aim Gastric adenocarcinoma of the fundic gland type (chief cell predominant type) (GA-FG-CCP) is a variant of gastric adenocarcinoma with chief cell differentiation. GA-FG-CCP is rare and not well understood. The present study aimed to investigate the clinicopathological features of GA-FG-CCP using retrospective and prospective analyses of endoscopic findings. Methods A total of 20 patients including nine cases treated with endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD) were diagnosed with GA-FG-CCP. Morphological changes were analyzed by retrospectively retracing past endoscopic records and following up after definitive diagnoses, including the status of Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection. Results GA-FG-CCP were small and whitish lesions accompanied by atypical vascular growth and their macroscopic types were classified as 0-IIa (60%), 0-IIb (25%), and 0-IIc (15%), respectively. The lesions were found in the non-atrophic gastric mucosa of the upper (70%) or middle portion (30%), although gastric mucosal atrophy associated with current or past H. pylori infection was identified in 75% of cases. In the nine cases treated with ESD, submucosal invasion was identified in 80% of the resected lesions, but no lymphovenous infiltration was detected. Ki-67 labeling index of GA-FG-CCP was low at 3.2% and visible morphological changes were rarely detected during long-term endoscopic observation for 58.9 ± 13.1 months. Conclusions These data indicate that GA-FG-CCP, even when submucosal invasion occurs easily, might be of low-grade malignancy as long as it is the chief cell predominant type without other epithelial abnormalities. In addition, GA-FG-CCP might develop despite H. pylori infection or gastric mucosal atrophy.

We report three cases of adenoma associated with sporadic fundic gland polyp (FGP) in the non-atrophic fundic gland mucosa without Helicobacter pylori (HP) infection, which was verified with both serological and histopathological examinations. Gastric tubular adenoma (flat adenoma) is common and focal cancers occurring in the hyperplastic polyp of foveolar cell type are also sometimes experienced. However, adenomas occurring in sporadic FGP are valuable, as they are very rare, in upper gastrointestinal endoscopy. Whether or not these adenoma lesions of three sporadic FGP cases may become the background of protruded gastric cancers without HP infection remains unclear. Therefore, we emphasize the importance of histological examination on fundic gland polyps that are > 5 mm in size to accumulate new similar cases. Follow-up studies of these lesions are also needed to evaluate their outcomes.

Background: Phospholipids play an important role in gastric mucosal protection. The purpose of the present study was to investigate changes in various phospholipids in the fundic and pyloric gland mucosae of patients with gastric mucosal disease. Methods: One hundred and five patients with superficial gastritis, duodenal ulcer, gastric ulcer or gastric cancer were studied. Patients underwent endoscopy to obtain biopsy specimens from both the fundic and pyloric gland mucosae. The phospholipid contents were measured by high performance liquid chromatography. Results: Total phospholipid level was significantly greater in the fundic gland mucosa than in the pyloric gland mucosa (P = 0.037), and the level in the fundic gland mucosa was high in all four gastric diseases studied. The difference was significant in patients with gastric ulcers (P = 0.0156). Total phospholipid levels were the highest in superficial gastritis, followed by duodenal ulcer, gastric ulcer and gastric cancer. In all four gastric diseases, phosphatidylserine (PS), phosphatidylethanolamine (PE), and phosphatidylcholine (PC) levels were high, while phosphatidylinositol, lysophosphatidylcholine, and sphingomyelin levels were low. The PE and PC levels were higher in the fundic gland mucosa than in the pyloric glandular mucosa, whereas the PS level was higher in the pyloric gland mucosa than in the fundic gland mucosa. Conclusions: The fundic gland mucosa has stronger phospholipid-related protection than the pyloric gland mucosa, based on the levels of mucosal phospholipids. The main phospholipids for gastric mucosal protection are PC and PE (in the fundic gland mucosa) and PS (in the pyloric gland mucosa). Phospholipid-related protection is strong in superficial gastritis and duodenal ulcer, but is reduced in the pyloric gland mucosa in patients with gastric ulcers, and in both gastric gland mucosae in patients with gastric cancer.

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 µm) 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).

We examined the histological characteristics of the foveolar zone of the gastric body mucosa, using dye endoscopy and endoscopic biopsy. In 63 patients, the gastric area type of the gastric body was placed in one of the following categories; fundic gland type 0 (F0), where small and fine areas are arranged closely to one another; F1, where the areas are largest in size, round and high; F2, where the areas are intemediate in size but not so high; F3, where small and flat areas are loosely arranged; pseudo-pyloric gland type 1 (Pb1), where the areas are regular in size and arrangement; and the completely atrophic gland type (Pb2) with areas irregular in size and arrangement. The histological characteristics of the foveolar zone were emmined on printed microphotographs of the biopsy specimens of the gastric body. The density of the gastric pit was defined as the number of pits in a 1 mm width of the mucosal surface and depth of the foveolae was measured as the distance between the top and bottom (or the isthmus) of the foveolae as seen on vertical sections. The gastric pit density and depth of the foveolae were dense and shallow, respectively, in FO and sparse and deep, in Pbl and Pb2 respectively. The degree of these factors showed independency in area types F0, F1 and Pb2 and there were correlations of P

We investigated the endoscopic and histopathological characteristics of 112 gastric polyps on the gastric body. According to the histopathological findings of the glands in the biopsy specimens, we classified the polyps into 6 categories; dense fundic gland type (group A), sparse fundic gland type (B), mixed fundic and pyloric gland type (C), pyloric gland type (D), complete atrophic gland type (E) and others (F). The grade of atrophic gastritis was defined by the fundic-pyloric border type of the stomach, and was found to change from mild to severe respectively in groups A to E. The gastric area type of background fundic gland mucosa also changed from F0 to F3 in parallel with the order of the groups A to E. Thirty-five of the 36 polyps in group A, all 19 in group B, 2 out of 3 in group C, 1 of 4 in group D, and the 1 in group E were located on the dye-endoscopically defined fundic gland mucosal area. The gland type of biopsy specimens which were obtained from the mucosa adjacent to the polyps changed from fundic to fundic-pyloric and to pyloric type in groups A to E respectively. In conclusion, the histopathological findings of polyps on the gastric body reflect the background mucosa, and in particular the extent of the atrophic change of the stomach. The majority of polyps, either fundic gland polyps (groups A and B) or hyperplastic polyps (groups C, D and E), on the gastric body were found to be the same gland type as their respective background mucosa. They thus seem to fall into the same category as hyperplastic polyps of background mucosal origin but are not the same as a hamartomatous polyp.