gastric micropapillary carcinoma

Micropapillary carcinoma of stomach is a newly recognized histologic variant characterized by small papillary clusters of tumor cells without a distinct fibrovascular core.

The micropapillary features are often noted in the deep advancing edge of tumor, surrounded by an empty space mimicking retraction artifact.

Micropapillary carcinoma of stomach, as its counterpart at other organs, tends to form endolymphatic tumor emboli and metastasize to lymph nodes.

However, the overall survival of gastric micropapillary carcinoma, unlike that in other organs, seems to be not significantly different from conventional gastric adenocarcinoma, although the result may be due to the small patient sample in that study (11 patients).

Because of the high incidence of lymphatic invasion and nodal metastasis (up to 82%), it is advised that conservative treatment such as endoscopic resection not be used for gastric carcinoma with invasive micropapillary components.