Rapidly growing early gastric cancer with microsatellite instability

A 77-year-old man underwent gastrointestinal endoscopy that revealed a small flat elevated lesion in the gastric antrum. Endoscopically, we assessed the tumor as intramucosal cancer or adenoma, and biopsy specimens were diagnosed as showing borderline malignancy. At the second examination, performed 6 months later, the elevated lesion had grown, showing remarkable changes in its appearance, and a diagnosis of adenocarcinoma was confirmed pathologically. The patient underwent distal gastrectomy about 8 months after the first examination, and the tumor in the resected specimens showed a moderately differentiated adenocarcinoma invading through the entire submucosal layer, with metastasis to a regional lymph node. Microsatellite analysis of this early gastric cancer disclosed mutations in all six markers examined, indicating high-level microsatellite instability (MSI-H). The tumor also showed frameshift mutations of TGFβRII and BAX genes, as well as hypermethylation of the hMLH1 promoter. These results suggest that a deficiency of the mismatch repair system played a critical role in the progression of this cancer. Received: August 13, 2001 / Accepted: January 25, 2002 Reprint requests to: K. Yamashita Present address: The Burnham Institute, 10901 North Torrey Pines Road, La Jolla, CA 92037, USA