Sarcomatoid carcinoma of the small intestine.

A case of sarcomatoid carcinoma of the small intestine in a 76 year old Chinese woman is presented. The diagnosis was confirmed by light microscopic, immunohistochemical and ultrastructural findings. It is a rare neoplasm, with only 13 previous reported cases in the literature. Patients with the disease usually had a poor prognosis. The nomenclature, histological and immunohistochemical findings of these tumours were diverse. To our knowledge, this case is the first report of this disease entity in a Chinese patient, and has its distinctive features. The patient was the oldest one in literature with this disease, and had the shortest survival time after the presentation of symptoms.