1999 Volume 41 Issue 7 Pages 1330-1335
A case of multiple granular cell tumors of cecum is reported. A 44-year-old female was visited to our hospital because of the necessity of further examination of the cecal polyp. Colonoscopic examination revealed a yellowish-white submucosal tumor about 7mm in diameter at the cecum. Endoscopic ultrasonography revealed a uniformly low-echoic mass in the third to second layer. It was difficult to make differential diagnosis from other submucosal tumors such as carcinoid. Complete resection was unsuccessful on strip biopsy. Seven month later, the Colonoscopic examination was performed again. There was residual tumor under the scar of strip biopsy, and there was the other submucosal tumor close to the resudual tumor. Laparoscopic partial resection of cecum was performed. The tumor was present in the colonic submucosa and muscularis mucosae. HE staining of the tumor showed fine granules in the cytoplasm. Granules of cytoplasm of tumor cells showed positive periodic acid-Schiff (PAS) reaction. Immunohis-tochemical analysis revealed positive for S-100 protein. The diagnosis of granular cell tumor was made. Granular cell tumor was first described by Abrikossof f as granular cell myoblastoma in 1926. It is benign neoplasms and is considered Schwann-cell origin. It occurs every-where in the soft tissues, mostly in the skin, esophagus, and tongue. But, it occurs rarely in the large bowel. In Japan, only 39 cases including our case were reported. We discussed the characteristics of our case comparing to them.
