title: Eosinophil-Specific Granules in Tumor Cell Cytoplasm: Unusual Ultrastructural Findings in a Case of Diffuse-Type Gastric Carcinoma.
abstract: A case of desmoplastic variant of diffuse-type gastric carcinoma in a 72-year-old woman is reported. Microscopic findings included poorly cohesive tumor cells, resembling mononuclear inflammatory cells, prominent diffuse desmoplasia, and tumor-associated tissue eosinophilia. Electron microscopy confirmed the undifferentiated phenotype of tumor cells and disclosed activated eosinophils in the tumor stroma. Eosinophil-specific granules were found either free in the tumor stroma or within the cytoplasm of some tumor cells. Electron microscopy provided also circumstantial evidence of phagocytosis of apoptotic eosinophils by tumor cells. Extracellular, membrane-bound, eosinophil-specific granules have been long recognized in tissues associated with eosinophilia, including allergic diseases, inflammatory responses to helminths, and in stroma of some neoplasms. Our ultrastructural study now extends these findings and provides additional morphological evidence of eosinophil-specific granules within the cytoplasm of gastric carcinoma cells.
authors.affiliation: Department of Human Pathology .
authors.forename: Rosario Alberto
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Caruso
authors.forename: Giovanni
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Branca
authors.forename: Francesco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Fedele
authors.forename: Antonino
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Parisi
authors.forename: Giuseppe
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Finocchiaro
authors.forename: Antonio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ieni
authors.forename: Luciana
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Rigoli
mesh_terms: D000230:Adenocarcinoma / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D000368:Aged; D003593:Cytoplasm / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D003594:Cytoplasmic Granules / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D004804:Eosinophils / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D046529:Microscopy, Electron, Transmission; D013274:Stomach Neoplasms / Q000648:ultrastructure*
keywords: Electron microscopy; eosinophil-specific granules; gastric carcinoma; tumor-associated tissue eosinophilia