Unusual Gastric Tumors & Tumor-like Lesions: a Case Series

Unusual tumors and tumor-like lesions are rare in the stomach and occur with variable incidence. Such lesions have either epithelial or mesenchymal origin, and present with non-specific clinical features like abdominal pain, melena, vomiting, and have overlapping radiological features, and thus, mimic other gastric tumors which may have markedly different management and prognosis. At times, esophagogastroduodenoscopy (EGD), different imaging modalities, and even histopathology of endoscopic biopsy may be non-contributory owing to atypical presentation, rare occurrence and unfamiliarity of radiologists or pathologists with such rare lesions. Even repeated endoscopic biopsies may prove inconclusive and in such situations excision of the lesion with confidence and its further histopathological examination helps us to reach a definitive diagnosis. Here, we present a heterogeneous collection of such gastric lesions mainly to emphasize the importance of a thorough and meticulous histopathological examination and the familiarity of a pathologist with these lesions during the evaluation of all gastric lesions, which in the light of relevant clinical information, EGD findings and radiological impression can lead to a prompt and correct diagnosis.