title: Des-gamma carboxy prothrombin (PIVKA-II) and alpha-fetoprotein producing gastric cancer with multiple liver metastases.
abstract: We describe the case of an 87-year-old woman who presented to Tokyo Kousei Nenkin Hospital because of appetite loss and general fatigue. Multiple liver masses and Borrmann type 2 gastric tumor were detected. A clinical diagnosis of hepatocellular carcinoma and gastric cancer was made based on the patient's high levels of serum alpha-fetoprotein (AFP; 490 200 ng/mL) and protein induced by vitamin K absence or antagonist-II (PIVKA-II, 2284 mAU/mL). The patient's general condition worsened gradually and she died 42 days after admission. Autopsy revealed that the predominant histological structure of the gastric tumor was trabecular or sheet-like, although a tubular structure was also found. Venous invasion was prominent. Immunohistochemically, the tumor tissue was positive for AFP and a few tumor cells were positive for PIVKA-II. The histological appearance and immunohistochemical features of the hepatic tumors resembled that of the gastric tumor. This case was pathologically diagnosed as AFP- and PIVKA-II-producing gastric carcinoma with multiple liver metastases. When tumors are found in the stomach and liver and serum PIVKA-II level is abnormally high, the possibility of PIVKA-II-producing gastric cancer with liver metastasis should be considered, especially when hepatitis virus markers are negative and liver cirrhosis is not present.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Tokyo University Hospital, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-8655, Japan. ytakaha-tky@umin.ac.jp
authors.forename: Yoshihisa
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Takahashi
authors.forename: Tohru
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Inoue
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D015415:Biomarkers; D002277:Carcinoma / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000556:secondary; D017809:Fatal Outcome; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000556:secondary; D011498:Protein Precursors / Q000378:metabolism*; D011516:Prothrombin / Q000378:metabolism*; D013274:Stomach Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D000509:alpha-Fetoproteins / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D011498:Protein Precursors; D000509:alpha-Fetoproteins; C008208:acarboxyprothrombin; D011516:Prothrombin