Parietal cell carcinoma of gastric cardia: immunophenotype and ultrastructure

The case is reported of a clinically aggressive parietal cell carcinoma of the gastric cardia in a 67-year-old man. Histologically, the tumor was a poorly differentiated adenocarcinoma with a predominantly solid growth pattern, though with areas exhibiting glandular morphology and with extensive lymphatic invasion. The tumor cells had eosinophilic, finely granular cytoplasm, with focal Alcian blue-positive mucin in the gland lumens. Ultrastructural examination of the pleural metastasis and gastrectomy specimen demonstrated many mitochondria, tubulovesicular profiles of endoplasmic reticulum, and intracytoplasmic lumens, which resembled intracellular canaliculi of parietal cells. Immunohistochemically, there was positive staining of tumor cells for the parietal cell specific antibodies to H/K-ATPase and human milk fat globule-2 (HMFG-2).