title: Our experience of treating undifferentiated gastric carcinoma: report of four cases.
abstract: Undifferentiated gastric carcinoma is a rare histopathological type of cancer that does not show any differentiation toward adenocarcinoma or squamous cell carcinoma. It is thought to be highly malignant, and is associated with a poor prognosis. However, its clinical behavior has not yet been fully analyzed because of its rarity. We herein review the clinical characteristics and prognoses of patients with undifferentiated gastric carcinoma treated at our institutions. Among 2,651 gastric cancer patients, four (0.2 %) were histopathologically diagnosed to have undifferentiated carcinoma. These four patients included three males and one female. The median age of the patients was 60-year old (range 47-75). Three cases had distant metastases at diagnosis. One of these three cases was treated with chemotherapy alone, and the other two were treated with palliative gastrectomy and chemotherapy. The patient with no distant metastasis underwent curative gastrectomy and adjuvant chemotherapy. All patients died of cancer at a median of 5.4 (range 3.5-7.1) months after their diagnoses.
authors.affiliation: Department of Gastroenterological Surgery, Higashiosaka City General Hospital, 3-4-5 Nishiiwata, Higashiosaka, Osaka, 578-8588, Japan, endo-s@higashiosaka-hosp.jp.
authors.forename: Shunji
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Endo
authors.forename: Kazuhiro
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Nishikawa
authors.forename: Terumasa
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Yamada
authors.forename: Tomo
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Nakagawa
authors.forename: Hiroaki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Fushimi
authors.forename: Tsuyoshi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Chihara
authors.forename: Amane
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Yamauchi
authors.forename: Junichi
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Nishijima
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000971:Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols / Q000627:therapeutic use; D002277:Carcinoma / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000473:pathology / Q000628:therapy*; D017024:Chemotherapy, Adjuvant; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy; D017809:Fatal Outcome; D005260:Female; D005743:Gastrectomy; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010166:Palliative Care; D011379:Prognosis; D013274:Stomach Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000473:pathology / Q000628:therapy*; D013997:Time Factors