Adenoendocrine Cell Carcinoma of the Gallbladder: Report of a Case

Abstract

Adenoendocrine cell carcinoma of the gallbladder is an uncommon form of cancer. We treated a 36-year-old woman who came to us with a chief complaint of abdominal pain. The abnormality was diagnosed to be a tumor-like mass in the gallbladder, and adenomyomatosis of the gallbladder was strongly suspected. A laparoscopic cholecystectomy was successfully performed, and the histopathological finding was adenoendocrine cell carcinoma of the gallbladder. The tumor cells of the small round cell carcinoma partly stained positively for synaptophysin, neuron-specific enolase, and CD 56, while adenocarcinoma cells showed positive reactions to keratin, which was thus suggestive of adenoendocrine cell carcinoma. The patient is alive and doing well at 12 months after the treatment.

Clinicopathologic study of mixed adenoneuroendocrine carcinomas of hepatobiliary organs

“…Several cases of hepatobiliary neuroendocrine neoplasms including carcinoid tumors have been reported, but most involve hepatic carcinoids or biliary neuroendocrine neoplasms arising from or accompanying ordinary adenocarcinomas, mostly in patients with gallbladder cancer and extrahepatic CC [10][11][12][13][14]. One case of hepatic NET G1 (carcinoid tumor), but no pure biliary neuroendocrine neoplasms without ordinary CC, has been registered in our laboratories and affiliated hospitals.…”

“…To date, several cases of hepatobiliary neuroendocrine neoplasms, mostly biliary adenocarcinomas accompanying an neuroendocrine component (MANEC), have been reported [10][11][12][13][14], but the neuroendocrine component in biliary MANEC is not well characterized. In this study, we surveyed neuroendocrine neoplasms in hepatobiliary tumors and characterized hepatobiliary MANEC.…”

Adenoendocrine cell carcinoma of the gallbladder clinically mimicking squamous cell carcinoma

“…It appears that 35 cases of AEGB have been reported so far. 2,3 However, because cases of mixed exo-endocrine cell carcinoma, small cell carcinoma with an adenocarcinomatous component, and oat cell carcinoma have been reported, the actual number of AEGB cases remains unclear. Because most of these tumors, except those in the gallbladder mucosa, are composed of small cell carcinoma, AEGB is considered to have similar clinical features to small cell carcinoma.…”

“…1 Small cell carcinoma with adenocarcinoma, which is defi ned as adenoendocrine cell carcinoma of the gallbladder (AEGB) in Japan, is relatively rare and has a poor prognosis due to rapid tumor growth and early spread by metastasis. 2,3 However, its clinicopathological characteristics and behavior have not been fully clarifi ed. SCGB is also rare and accounts for 5.3%-10.6% of all incidents of gallbladder carcinoma.…”

Adenoendocrine carcinoma of the accessory papilla of the duodenum: Report of a case

“…1 Neuroendocrine cell carcinoma shows strong cell atypism as well as abundant mitotic fi gures, vessel invasion, and metastasis in comparison to classical carcinoid tumors. 2 The coexistence of NEC carcinoma and adenocarcinoma in the duodenum seems to be extremely rare. Morphologically, such lesions are classifi ed into two subgroups: namely, composite-type tumors and collision-type tumors.…”