Diffuse and psammomatous calcification in intestinal type gastric carcinoma: report of two cases with literature review

Psammoma bodies are round, concentrically laminated calcospherites ranging from 5 to 100 μm in diameter. They may indicate certain types of tumors including papillary carcinoma of the thyroid, meningioma and papillary serous tumors of the ovary, and to a lesser extent may be found in leiomyomas and angiomas of the gastrointestinal tract. Dystrophic calcification is uncommon in gastric cancer and displays either diffuse or psammomatous pattern. Diffuse type calcification is generally seen within the pools of mucin in advanced mucinous adenocarcinoma. Conversely, psammomatous calcification is associated with non-mucinproducing carcinomas and detected not only within the carcinomatous glandular lumina but also in the stroma. Total gastrectomy specimens of a 74-year-old male and a 54-year-old female with moderately differentiated intestinal type adenocarcinomas revealed diffuse and psammomatous calcification, respectively. Although diffuse type calcification is well-documented, to date it has not been reported in non-mucin-producing intestinal gastric carcinoma. Moreover, the psammomatous type is exceptionally rare, and only six such cases have been reported in the literature; the current patient represents the seventh case.