[A case of alpha-fetoprotein-producing gastric carcinoma with histologic features of embryonal carcinoma].

A case of advanced gastric carcinoma in a 75-year-old female with highly elevated serum alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) (9050 ng/ml) is presented. A Borrmann 3 type tumor measuring 7 X 7 cm was located in the gastric antrum and directly invaded up to the radix of the superior mesenteric artery. Neither the preoperative CT scan nor close examination at surgery revealed any evidence of hepatic metastasis. The histological examination showed largely embryonal (atypical-cell) carcinoma. By immunoperoxidase staining, AFP and alpha-1-antitrypsin (AAT) immunoreactivities were identified in some carcinoma cells. Sixteen cases of AFP-producing gastric carcinoma reported in Japan were reviewed.