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We report an unusual case of alpha-fetoprotein (AFP)-producing gastric carcinoma with enteroblastic differentiation. A 75-year-old woman was admitted to our hospital with occasional upper abdominal discomfort. We performed gastroscopy and observed a type 2 tumor, primarily in the pyloric region. Histological examination of biopsies confirmed gastric adenocarcinoma. Based on these findings, we diagnosed gastric adenocarcinoma and performed laparoscopic distal gastrectomy with lymph node dissection. Histological examination revealed an invasive lesion composed of adenocarcinoma with a tubulopapillary growth pattern. Tumor cells were cuboidal in shape with characteristically clear cytoplasm rich in glycogen. Two regional lymph node metastases were seen microscopically. Immunohistochemically these cells were positive for AFP, carcinoembryonic antigen, caudal-type homeobox transcription factor 2 and common acute lymphoblastic leukemia antigen. The final diagnosis was AFP-producing gastric carcinoma with enteroblastic differentiation. 26 months after initial surgery, the patient was readmitted to our hospital for gastrointestinal obstruction due to lymph node recurrence.

Background/Aims: The presence of para-aortic lymph node metastasis in biliary cancer negatively impacts prognosis. The present study aims to immunohistochemically identify and evaluate the clinical significance of para-aortic lymph node micrometastases in 66 patients who had undergone curative resection of biliary cancer. Methods: We used an antibody against cytokeratins 7 and 8 (CAM5.2) to immunostain 529 para-aortic lymph nodes that were negative according to conventional analysis from 66 patients with biliary cancer. Results: We detected CAM5.2-positive occult carcinoma cells in para-aortic lymph nodes from 3 (5%) of the 66 patients and in 3 (0.6%) of the 529 para-aortic lymph nodes. One of the 3 patients also had micrometastasis in the regional lymph nodes. All 3 patients with para-aortic lymph node micrometastasis are alive at 45, 48 and 90 months after surgery despite having locally advanced cancer. Conclusions: Occult cancer cells were identified in para-aortic lymph nodes from 5% of patients with node-negative biliary cancer, yet these patients have survived over the long term. The presence of para-aortic nodal micrometastasis might not have an influence on survival. However, further studies using a greater number of patients are required to support this notion.

Objective To immunohistochemically identify regional lymph node micrometastases in patients with regional node-negative biliary cancer who underwent curative resection, and to evaluate their clinical significance. Summary background data The clinical significance of immunohistochemically detected lymph node micrometastasis has recently been evaluated in various tumors. However, few reports have focused on this issue with regard to biliary cancer. Methods A total of 1421 regional lymph nodes from 151 patients with biliary cancer with negative regional nodes (as determined by conventional methods) were immunostained with antibody against cytokeratins 7 and 8 (CAM5.2). Prognostic impact was evaluated among patients with no metastasis, micrometastasis, and obvious metastasis detected by hematoxylin and eosin staining. Immunostained tumor foci were classified as small micrometastasis or large micrometastasis according to size (above or below 0.2 mm). Results CAM5.2-positive occult carcinoma cells in regional lymph nodes were detected in 33 (22%) of 151 patients and 49 (3%) of 1421 regional lymph nodes. Small micrometastases were detected in 23 patients, whereas large micrometastases were found in 10 patients. Survival for patients with micrometastasis was significantly worse than that for patients without (P = 0.0051), but was significantly better than that for patients with overt metastasis (P = 0.0092). No significant difference in postoperative survival was seen between patients with small and large micrometastases (P = 0.4221). Conclusions Occult cancer cells were present in regional lymph nodes of 22% patients with regional node-negative biliary cancer, and were associated with significantly worse survival. Patients with micrometastases should be treated as carefully as node-positive patients.

Background The presence of para-aortic lymph node metastasis in biliary cancer has a negative impact on prognosis. The relevance of para-aortic lymph node micrometastasis is unknown. Methods A total of 546 para-aortic lymph nodes from 49 patients with biliary cancer with positive regional nodes and negative para-aortic nodes were immunostained with epithelial marker CAM5·2 (specific for cytokeratins 7 and 8). Immunostained tumour foci were classified as micrometastases or isolated tumour cells (ITCs) according to their size (larger or smaller than 0·2 mm). Results CAM5·2-positive occult carcinoma cells in para-aortic lymph nodes were detected in nine (18 per cent) of 49 patients and in 18 (3·3 per cent) of 546 para-aortic nodes. There was no difference in postoperative survival between patients with and without CAM5·2-positive para-aortic nodes (P = 0·978), but survival for five patients with micrometastases was significantly worse than that for four patients with only ITCs (P = 0·047). Conclusion In patients with regional node-positive and para-aortic node-negative biliary cancer, and occult cancer cells in para-aortic lymph nodes, prognosis was significantly worse in those with micrometastases than in patients with only ITCs. An efficient method of intraoperative detection of para-aortic lymph node micrometastases larger than 0·2 mm is needed.

We report herein the first case of intraductal oncocytic papillary neoplasm of the bile duct arising from a peribiliary gland of the left hepatic duct. The patient was a 63-year-old Japanese man. Radiological and cholangioscopic examinations revealed intraductal tumor of the left hepatic duct. After pathological diagnosis of adenocarcinoma by cholangioscopic biopsy, a surgical hepatobiliary resection was performed. Pathological examination revealed papillary tumor in the left hepatic duct. Histologically, the tumor was identified as papillary neoplasm comprising oncocytic cells and delicate fibrovascular cores. Interestingly, this tumor originated from the cystic space in the bile duct wall. This cystic space was histologically identified as a cystically dilated peribiliary gland. Carcinoma in situ was observed in this cystic peribiliary gland at the bottom of the tumor, but not on any areas of biliary epithelium. This case suggests that intraductal papillary neoplasm can arise from both biliary epithelium and peribiliary glands.

Autoimmune pancreatitis (AIP) is a new category of pancreatic diseases. AIP associated with pseudocysts is rare; only 8 cases have been reported in the literature. A 63-year-old man was admitted to our department because of upper left abdominal pain and back pain. Various imaging studies demonstrated swelling of the tail of the pancreas with hemorrhagic pseudocysts. The patient underwent a surgical operation. A pancreatogram of the specimen revealed total occlusion of the main pancreatic duct in the tail of the pancreas. Histopathological examination revealed that it was AIP with hemorrhagic pseudocysts.

A 68-year-old woman with a history of renal cell carcinoma (RCC) resected curatively 12 years previously was admitted to our department for scrutiny of pancreatic tumors. Various imaging studies demonstrated heterogeneously well-enhanced masses in the head and tail of the pancreas. The well-enhanced mass in the head of the pancreas was connected with the tumor thrombus in the portal vein. To differentially diagnose the multiple pancreatic lesions, we performed endoscopic ultrasound-guided fine-needle aspiration biopsy (EUS-FNAB). Histopathologic findings of the EUS-FNAB specimens were similar to those of the renal clear cell carcinoma previously resected. The patient underwent a surgical operation with segmental resection of the portal vein with the preoperative diagnosis of RCC metastasis to the pancreas with intraportal growth. Histopathological examination of the resected specimen revealed that the masses in the pancreas were multiple pancreatic metastases with intraportal tumor thrombus of RCC. The pancreas is a rare target for metastasis. This is a rare case of pancreatic metastasis from RCC with intraportal extension, and is the first preoperatively definitely diagnosed case using EUS-FNAB.

当院における小腸損傷74例115病変を対象とし,日本外傷学会消化管損傷分類を用いて,本邦初となる多数例の検討を行った.損傷形態ではIIa型が45病変(39.1%)を占め最も多かった.受傷より手術までの時間を検討したところ, II型においては受傷24時間以降に症状が増悪する症例があり,小腸損傷における無症状期の存在が示唆された.またIII型においては受傷数日後に手術となっており,遅発性の消化管損傷と考えられた. II型, III型においては,受傷直後には症状を呈さない場合があり,腹部打撲歴を有する外傷患者診察の際には経時的な観察が重要であると考えられた.診断では,高速ヘリカルCTのwide windowでの画像解析による腹腔内遊離ガス像の証明が有用と考えられた.合併症としては創感染が多く,予後としては,小腸損傷のみでの死亡例は経験しておらず高率に救命されていた.

We discuss an extremely rare case of ganglioneuroblastoma arising within a retroperitoneal mature cystic teratoma. Radiological examinations showed a cystic tumor sandwiched between the pancreas and left kidney. Surgery was scheduled because the tumor seemed to have originated from the pancreas. En-block resection of the tumor with distal pancreatectomy, splenectomy, and left adrenalectomy was performed. In terms of macroscopic appearance, the tumor mainly consisted of a unilocular cystic mass, but the presence of a smaller, solid mass was also noted within the tumor. Histopathologic examination confirmed that the cystic mass was consistent with a mature cystic teratoma of the retroperitoneum, and in addition, a ganglioneuroblastoma was evident in the solid component. Histopathologically, the ganglioneuroblastomatous area was intimately associated with dermoid tissue of the mature cystic teratoma, thus this case was diagnosed to be a mature cystic teratoma with malignant transformation. To best of our knowledge, this is the first reported case of ganglioneuroblastoma arising in a mature cystic teratoma.

We present an extremely rare case of early-stage acinar cell carcinoma of the pancreas. A 49-year-old woman, who had undergone radical surgery for breast cancer 3 years earlier, was suspected to have a rib metastasis during follow-up. She also had a family history of cancer. No accumulation was seen in the left rib on (18)F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography with computed tomography, but incidental high uptake into the pancreatic head suggested malignant pancreatic tumor. The tumor was completely resected by pancreatoduodenectomy, and pancreatic acinar cell carcinoma was demonstrated histopathologically. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first reported case of a pancreatic acinar cell carcinoma smaller than 1 cm to be detected by (18)F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography and computed tomography.

We report an unusual case of goblet cell carcinoid (GCC) of the rectum. A 75-year-old man was admitted to our hospital with anal bleeding, and a hard tumor was felt on the anterior wall of the lower rectum during rectal examination. We performed colonoscopy, and found a 30-mm type 2 tumor in the lower rectum and anal canal. Histological examination of biopsies revealed rectal adenocarcinoma. Based on these findings, we diagnosed rectal adenocarcinoma and performed Miles' operation with lymph node dissection. Histological examination revealed an invasive lesion composed of signet-ring-like cells. Seven regional lymph node metastases were seen microscopically. The tumor produced copious mucin, which was stained with Alcian blue. Immunohistochemistry was positive for synaptophysin, chromogranin A, CD56, carcinoembryonic antigen, p53, Ki-67, E-cadherin, and cytokeratin 20. The final diagnosis was GCC of the rectum.

The aim of this study was to determine the impact of the presence of carcinoma in situ at the bile duct stump on postoperative survival in patients who underwent resection of extrahepatic bile duct carcinoma. The patients with resected extrahepatic bile duct carcinoma were divided into three groups according to resected margin status: no evidence of residual carcinoma (Negative group, n = 96); carcinoma in situ at the bile duct stump (CIS group, n = 10); and invasive carcinoma at any surgical margin (Invasive group, n = 19). Cause-specific survival for these groups was compared statistically. Surgical margin status was identified as a prognostic factor on univariate analysis (p = 0.005) and was an independent prognostic factor on multivariate analysis (p = 0.018). The CIS group displayed significantly better survival than the Invasive group (p = 0.006), and the survival was comparable to that for the Negative group (p = 0.533). Two of three patients in the CIS group with local recurrence died >5 years after surgical resection. Patients with positive ductal margins of carcinoma in situ of the extrahepatic bile duct do not appear to show different survival after resection compared to patients with negative margins, but remnant carcinoma in situ is likely to develop late local recurrence.

Spindle cell-type undifferentiated carcinoma arising from the extrahepatic bile duct is extremely rare. We herein report a case of this type of carcinoma in the common bile duct of the hepatic hilus. A 59-year-old man was admitted to our hospital complaining of jaundice. The laboratory data revealed an elevation of the serum carbohydrate antigen 19–9 level. Cholangiography revealed a complete obliteration of the left hepatic bile duct and stenosis of the bile duct from the superior to the right hepatic bile duct. Computed tomography showed the tumor to measure 15 × 12 mm in the hepatic hilus, with the obliteration of the right to main trunk of the portal vein and a swollen lymph node in the hepato-duodenum ligament. Arteriography revealed a kink of the right hepatic artery; therefore an encasement of the right hepatic artery was suspected. We preoperatively diagnosed hilus bile duct carcinoma and scheduled a right trisection hepatectomy. Intraoperative frozen sections taken from the tumor and tissues around the hepatic arteries showed spindle and inflammatory cells; therefore an inflammatory pseudotumor was diagnosed intraoperatively. As the right hepatic bile duct was occluded, a right lobe hepatectomy was performed. However, a permanent section revealed both spindle cells and poorly differentiated tubular adenocarcinoma cells positive for CAM5.2, AE1/AE3, and vimentin. On the basis of these findings, the tumor was finally diagnosed to be spindle cell-type undifferentiated carcinoma. Unfortunately, the patient died of pulmonary infarction 11 days after the operation.