[Neuroendocrine gastric carcinoma. A case report and review of current management]

Neuroendocrine or carcinoid tumors of the gastrointestinal tract considered previously extremely rare, are diagnosed at present with increased frequency due to the better capacity to identify neuroendocrine system cells in normal and pathologic conditions. Occasionally, these tumors secrete a great variety of vasoactive substances, producing the carcinoid syndrome. Gastric carcinoids are classified, according to their degree of differentiation into well differentiated and poorly differentiated tumors, also called neuroendocrine carcinomas. Neuroendocrine gastric carcinomas or poorly differentiated gastric carcinoids are seen in 5-15% of all gastric carcinoids, mainly in older male patients. Generally they are large, very aggressive tumors with extensive local infiltration. Due to poor differentiation, they are not frequently associated with an endocrine syndrome. They can be located in any part of the stomach but are mainly seen in antrum. These tumors have an aggressive behavior and must be treated in a radical manner; recurrences are not uncommon. We report the case of a patient with a neuroendocrine gastric carcinoma treated with an en bloc subtotal gastrectomy and colectomy.