Bizarre atypia in gastric brushings associated with hepatic arterial infusion chemotherapy

Hepatic arterial infusion chemotherapy (HAIC) for unresectable hepatic neoplasms has been associated with gastric ulcers and epithelial atypia that may be misinterpreted as carcinoma. Gastric brushings were reviewed from six patients who developed gastric ulcers with histologically proven atypia following HAIC. Marked cytologic atypia, reminiscent of a pronounced radiation effect, was present in gastric epithelial cells in five patients. The atypical cells occurred singly or in small sheets. They were markedly enlarged but a low nuclear-cytoplasmic ratio was preserved. The abundant cytoplasm was vacuolated or foamy. Binucleation and multinucleation were common, and massive nucleoli were characteristic. The brushings also contained the reparative, inflammatory and necrotic changes associated with usual benign gastric ulcers. The bizarre atypia associated with HAIC can be a source of misdiagnosis of cancer in cytologic as well as in histologic specimens.