A Case of Adenoendocrine Cell Carcinoma of the Gallbladder

Yutaka Ogasawara¹⁾, Kazuo Okano¹⁾, Syuji Yonehara²⁾, Ryuji Hirai³⁾ and Nobuyoshi Shimizu³⁾

¹⁾Department of Surgery, Fuchu General Hospital, ²⁾Department of Pathology, Onomichi General Hospital, ³⁾The Second Department of Surgery, Okayama University Medical School

A 75-year-old woman was referred to our hospital with hypochondriac right-abdomen pain. Abdominal ultrasonography and computed tomography showed a tumor (3 cm), diagnosed as gallbladder carcinoma, in the gallbladder. Extended cholecystectomy was conducted. Macroscopically, the tumor was nodular infiltrative, 4.0×3.5 cm. Microscopically, the tumor consisted mainly of small atypical cells with a high nuclear/cytoplasmic ratio forming solid cellular nests, with well-differentiated adenocarcinoma replacing the mucosa. And some of small atypical cells showed a positive argyrophil reaction and a positive result of chromogranin A. The final diagnosis was adenoendocrine cell carcinoma of the gallbladder.

Key words
gallbladder cancer, adenoendocrine cell carcinoma

Reprint requests
Yutaka Ogasawara Department of Surgery, Fuchu General Hospital 555-3 Ukai-cho, Fuchu, 726-8501 JAPAN

Accepted
April 25, 2001

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