Cytological features of gastric adenocarcinoma presenting hepatoid differentiation in metastatic lesions-A case report-.

We report cytological features for an autopsy case of moderately differentiated gastric tubular adenocarcinoma showinghepatoid differentiation in metastatic lesions. At autopsy, imprint cytology of pulmonary metastases showed two different types of malignant cells; one arranged in an acinar pattern, suggesting features of moderately differentiated adenocarcinoma, and the other composed of cancer cells resembling cytological features of hepatocellular carcinoma. An accurate diagnosis ofhepatoid adenocarcinoma is very important because of the miserable prognosis, making the cytological findings from our present case useful in differentiating between hepatoid adenocarcinoma and common types of adenocarcinoma.