Composite intestinal adenoma-microcarcinoid

Abstract

Composite intestinal adenoma and microcarcinoid is a rare intestinal neoplasm consisting of intermingled adenomatous and well-differentiated neuroendocrine components. A few case reports and small series have suggested an indolent clinical course for this entity. We reported 7 cases of composite intestinal adenoma-microcarcinoid, including their morphologic features and clinical follow-up, both in biopsy and resection specimens. We identified 7 cases of composite intestinal adenoma-microcarcinoid from our pathology database. Five were from the large intestine, and 2 were in the duodenum. Morphologically, all microcarcinoids exhibited low-grade cytologic atypia and were devoid of significant pleomorphism, necrosis, and mitotic activity. Among the 7 lesions, 6 had a lobular architecture with smooth borders and mucosa-confined microcarcinoids; none had neuroendocrine carcinoma in subsequent resections. However, 1 colonic case had carcinoid cells penetrating the muscularis mucosae into the submucosa with an infiltrative border, and the resection showed metastatic high-grade neuroendocrine carcinoma in 1 lymph node. Composite intestinal adenoma-microcarcinoid is extremely rare. Although composite mucosa-confined adenoma-microcarcinoid is likely to have an indolent behavior, submucosal invasion by the neuroendocrine component may be associated with aggressive behavior.