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Journal of Nippon Medical School

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-Case Reports-

Stage IV Epstein-Barr Virus-Associated Early Gastric Cancer and Comparative Analysis of Genetic Alterations in Primary and Metastatic Tumors

Hong Jun Kim1, Chi Hoon Maeng1, Ji-Youn Sung2 and Kiyong Na2

1Division of Medical Oncology-Hematology, Department of Internal Medicine, Kyung Hee University Hospital, Kyung Hee University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea
2Department of Pathology, Kyung Hee University Hospital, Kyung Hee University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea


Early gastric cancer (EGC) with synchronous distant metastasis is extremely rare. Here, we report a case of stage IV Epstein-Barr virus (EBV)-associated EGC. A 51-year-old man presented with vague abdominal pain of 3 weeks' duration. Imaging studies revealed enlargement of the left supraclavicular, perigastric, and para-aortic lymph nodes, a huge gastric polypoid mass, and multiple liver masses. Histopathological examination of a biopsy specimen of the supraclavicular lymph node showed poorly differentiated carcinoma expressing EBV in tumor cell nuclei. The gastric mass exhibited tubular adenocarcinoma, which also expressed EBV in tumor cell nuclei. After 3 weeks of palliative chemotherapy with fluoropyrimidine and platinum, the patient died of liver failure. Next-generation sequencing analysis revealed mutation of the CDKN1B gene in the metastatic carcinoma and mutations of the CTNNB1 and PIK3R1 genes in the gastric carcinoma. In addition to the rare presentation of EBV-associated EGC, this case showed marked morphological and molecular differences between primary and metastatic tumors, which suggests clonal evolution of EBV-associated GC.

J Nippon Med Sch 2020; 87: 350-354

Keywords
EBV, early gastric cancer, stage IV, next-generation sequencing

Correspondence to
Na Kiyong, Department of Pathology, Kyung Hee University Hospital, Kyung Hee University College of Medicine, 26 Kyungheedae-ro, Dongdaemun-gu, Seoul 02447, Republic of Korea
raripapa@gmail.com

Received, January 28, 2019
Accepted, June 19, 2020