Abstract
A rare case of so-called carcinosarcoma of the stomach is reported. A 74-year-old man was seen at the hospital because of anemia. Upper gastrointestinal examination revealed a 2' type tumor at antrum of the stomach. He was diagnosed as having a 2' type gastric carcinoma, and a distal gastrectomy was performed. Microscopic examination revealed that the tumor consisted of differentiated adenocarcinoma with pleomorphic cell with sarcomatous stroma. And because a transitional area between the two elements was recognized histopathologically, it was diagnosed as so-called carcinosarcoma. Postoperative course was uneventful and there has been no recurrence for seven years after the surgery.
Carcinosarcomas of the stomach are rare and there have been only 30 reported cases in Japan so far. In a review of these cases, so-called carcinosarcomas of the stomach frequently appeared as elevated lesion and were commonly detected in an advanced stage compared to the common gastric carcinomas. The prognosis of the disease was also poor, but operation was able to offer a good prognosis to some cases in an early stage. So we think that operation can cure the disease, if the lesion is found out in an early stage when no hepatic nor lymph nodes metastasis occurs.
