Very well-differentiated gastric carcinoma of intestinal type: analysis of diagnostic criteria.

Very well-differentiated gastric adenocarcinoma of intestinal type is a rare variant of gastric cancer characterized by low-grade nuclear atypia, and for which the diagnostic criteria and clinical behavior are not fully established. This study presents a detailed histologic, immunohistochemical, and clinical analysis of 21 cases. Nuclear atypia was mild in all cases. Characteristic architectural features of this gastric adenocarcinoma variant were pit and glandular anastomosis, spiky glands, distended glands, discohesive cells, abortive glands, and glandular outgrowth. At least three of these features were present in all the cases. Retrospective review of preoperative biopsies in 18 patients revealed that half of the biopsies were originally reported as negative or indeterminate for malignancy. On the basis of immunohistochemical stains for intestinal (MUC2, CD10, and CDX-2) and gastric (MUC5AC and MUC6) markers, 11 (52%) cases had an intestinal immunophenotype and 10 (48%) cases had a mixed immunophenotype. Foci of discohesive neoplastic cells, indicating dedifferentiation toward a poorly cohesive carcinoma, were observed exclusively in neoplasms of mixed immunophenotype (n=5). All patients with follow-up but one were alive without disease at a mean of 19 months (range 1-60 months). One individual with a pT4 tumor with associated poorly cohesive carcinoma died of disease. In summary, very well-differentiated gastric adenocarcinomas are diagnostically challenging. Architectural features are critical to making the diagnosis. Cases with pure intestinal immunophenotype have not been associated with transformation into poorly cohesive carcinoma, and appear to behave as biologically low grade. Those with mixed immunophenotype appear more likely to dedifferentiate and behave more aggressively.