Adenosquamous carcinoma of the gall-bladder with gastric foveolar-type epithelium

An 80 year old Japanese man had adenosquamous carcinoma of the gall-bladder characterized by an adenocarcinoma (AC) in the gall-bladder lumen and a squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) in the invaded region of the liver. In the AC, the tumor cells consisted of atypical columnar epithelium with pseudostratification, mimicking gastric foveolar epithelium, while atypical signet-ring cells were scattered within the SCC. There was an abrupt transition between the AC and SCC areas. The tumor cells in the AC area were intensely positive for galactose oxidase-Schiff staining, and paradoxical concanavalin A staining revealed these tumor cells to have Class II mucins. Immunohistochemically, the tumor cells in foveolar-type adenocarcinoma were diffusely positive for cathepsin D. Flow cytometrical analysis of DNA content showed the AC area to be diploid and the SCC area to be aneuploid. The S-phase fraction of the SCC area (46.9%) was larger than that of the AC area (19.5%). The positive rate of immunostaining for proliferating cell nuclear antigen in the SCC area (mean 50.627%) was larger than that of the AC area (mean 3.048%, P < 0.01). These results suggest that the AC area of this tumor, histochemically and immunohistochemically, showed gastric foveolar-type characteristics, the SCC component was squamous cell metaplasia of the pre-existing AC, and that the SCC area had a greater proliferating capacity than the AC area.