NEUROENDOCRINE CARCINOMA OF STOMACH - A CASE REPORT

Carcinoid tumors are neuroendocrine neoplasms which are amine precursor uptake decarboxylase(APUD)omas that arise from enterochromaffin cells present throughout the gut. The majority are found in the gastrointestinal tract and more than 40 percent occur in the small intestine. Gastric carcinoids can be associated with endocrine cell hyperplasia, chronic atrophic gastritis, Zollinger-Ellison Syndrome(ZES). These tumors secrete discrete bioactive substances producing characteristic clinical features and immunohistochemical patterns. Neuroendocrine carcinoma are the malignant counterpart of carcinoid tumor. Here we report a case of neuroendocrine carcinoma of stomach in a 40 year old female presenting with recurrent vomiting, pain abdomen and mass per abdomen. Subtotal gastrectomy was done. Histopathological examination revealed features of Large cell neuroendocrine carcinoma which showed positivity for Chromogranin and Neuron specific enolase(NSE) immunohistochemically.