[Mucoepidermoid carcinoma of the stomach]

A case report is given of a 65 year old female patient harboring a rare mucoepidermoid carcinoma of the stomach. On X-ray examination a smooth faced mass with a diameter of 3 cm was found in the corpus region of the stomach. During gastroscopy the tumor was seen to be localized in the lower third of the stomach close to the lesser curvature with an ulceration on top. On microscopic examination a cornified squamous cell carcinoma was found including interspersed mucilaginous adenocarcinoma tissue. Prognosis of mucoepidermoid carcinoma is bad, histogenesis controversial. Discussion of this case as well as of other unusual adenocarcinomas for example with trophoblastic differentiation has to include the possibility of bidirectional development of undifferentiated stem cells. However it still remains unclear, why such tumors of the stomach are almost always adenocarcinomas and not signet ring cell carcinoma.