Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Case Reports
. 2010 Feb 24:5:14.
doi: 10.1186/1746-1596-5-14.

Significance of occult neoplastic cells on tumor metastasis: a case report of gastric cancer

Shinkichi Sato  1 , Masaya Mukai
Affiliations
Case Reports

Significance of occult neoplastic cells on tumor metastasis: a case report of gastric cancer

Shinkichi Sato et al. Diagn Pathol. .

Abstract

Background: Occult neoplastic cells (ONCs) are the tumor cells floating in the lymph node sinuses, distant from the primary tumor, and supposed to be one of most reliable marker of prognosis.

Methods: We report here the case of a 52-year-old woman with a gastric cancer associated by numerous ONCs.

Results: Postoperative examination of the stomach disclosed an advanced, poorly differentiated adenocarcinoma with frequent lymph node metastases. In addition to ONCs and occasional micrometastases, focal aggregates of ONCs, one of the possible intermediate lesions between the ONCs and the usual metastases, are also observed.

Conclusions: In the present case, at least some of ONCs seem to form the microaggregates of tumor cells in lymph nodes, anchor in the sinuses, and grow up to the large tumorous lesion. Even if most of the ONCs were trapped and disappeared under the influence of tumor immunity, the detection of ONCs could be one of the reliable clues to estimate the prognosis.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Stomach with the ulcerative tumor.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Poorly differentiated adenocarcinoma with signet ring type tumor cells (H&E).
Figure 3
Figure 3
Floating tumor cells in lymphatic sinus (Cytokeratin AE1/AE3).
Figure 4
Figure 4
Floating tumor cell islands in lymphatic sinus (Cytokeratin AE1/AE3).
Figure 5
Figure 5
Micrometastasis anchoring in the lymphatic sinus (Cytokeratin AE1/AE3).
Figure 6
Figure 6
Floating tumor cells aggregated in the lymph node (Cytokeratin AE1/AE3).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

References

    1. Mukai M, Ito I, Mukoyama S, Tajima T, Saito Y, Nakasaki H, Sato S, Makuuchi H. Improvement of 10-year survival by Japanese radical lymph node dissection in patients with Dukes' B and C colorectal cancer: a 17-year retrospective study. Oncol Rep. 2003;10:927–934. - PubMed
    1. Mukai M, Sato S, Nishida T, Komatsu N, Shiba K, Nakasaki H, Makuuchi H. Selection criteria for high-risk and low-risk groups of recurrence and metastasis in patients with primary colorectal cancer. Oncol Rep. 2003;10:1753–1758. - PubMed
    1. Mukai M, Sato S, Nakasaki H, Saito Y, Nishiumi N, Iwasaki M, Tokuda Y, Ogoshi K, Inoue H, Makuuchi H. Occult neoplastic cells in the lymph node sinuses and recurrence of primary breast, lung, esophageal and gastric cancer. Oncol Rep. 2004;11:81–84. - PubMed
    1. Mukai M, Sato S, Komatsu N, Kimura T, Ninomiya H, Nakasaki H, Ogoshi K, Makuuchi M. Accuracy of criteria for predicting the recurrence and metastasis of stage I and II gastric cancer without lymph node metastasis. Oncol Rep. 2004;12:59–62. - PubMed
    1. Hasegawa S, Mukai M, Sato S, Tajima T, Wakui K, Ninomiya H, Komatsu N, Nakasaki N, Makuuchi H. Long-term survival and tumor 5-FU sensitivity in patients with stage IV colorectal cancer and peritoneal dissemination. Oncol Rep. 2006;15:1185–1190. - PubMed

Publication types

MeSH terms

Substances