| Theme |
Neuroendocrine Tumor of the Gastrointestinal Tract |
| Title |
Endocrine Cell Tumor of the Gastrointestinal Tract |
| Author |
Mitsuya Iwafuchi |
Division of Pathology, Department of Medical Technology, School of Health Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Niigata University |
| Author |
Tooru Watanabe |
Division of Pathology, Department of Medical Technology, School of Health Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Niigata University |
| Author |
Chiaki Sakashita |
Division of Pathology, Department of Medical Technology, School of Health Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Niigata University |
| Author |
Hitomi Kondo |
Division of Pathology, Department of Medical Technology, School of Health Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Niigata University |
| Author |
Tsuyoshi Ochiai |
Division of Pathology, Department of Medical Technology, School of Health Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Niigata University |
| [ Summary ] |
Endocrine cell tumors (ECTs) of the gastrointestinal tract are divided into two groups ; carcinoid tumor (CT) with low-grade atypia and malignancy, and endocrine cell carcinoma (ECC) with high-grade atypia and malignancy. It is hypothesized that most CTs derive from immature endocrine cells and most ECCs arise from neoplastic endocrine cell clones occurring in the preceding intramucosal tubular adenocarcinoma. In histological examination of ECTs, the first step is a differential diagnosis between CT and ECC. In case of CT, then, the degree of malignant and metastatic potential of CT should be judged by a combination of histomorphology (tumor size, depth of invasion, cellular and nuclear atypia / pleomorphism, mitotic rate, angioinvasion) and proliferation rate (Ki-67 index). |