Carcinoma vesicular de células en anillo de sello: diseminación poco frecuente: reporte de un caso con tomografía computada por emisión de positrones con fluor 18-deoxiglucosa / Bone metastases of a gallbladder carcinoma detected by positron emission tomography/computed tomography: case report

Signet ring gallbladder carcinoma is a rare aggressive variant of mucinous adenocarcinoma with poor prognosis. Positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) with Fluor18 deoxyglucose (F18-FDG) is a useful tool in the staging of gallbladder cancer. We report a 68 years old man with a surgically resected acute cholecystitis, whose biopsy was positive for signet ring cell gallbladder carcinoma. During surgery, locoregional lymph nodes, liver or peritoneal involvement were not detected. A PET/CT was performed for staging, finding multiple hypermetabolic lytic bone lesions. Percutaneous biopsy of a pelvis bone lesion, confirmed a metastasis of the tumor. In this case, the staging with PET/CT allowed the diagnosis of unsuspected bone metastases and was a useful tool for deciding the best site of biopsy for histologic confirmation.

Metástasis de carcinoma de células en anillo de sello al cuello uterino / Metastasis of signet-ring cell carcinoma of the cervix

Las metástasis de carcinomas extragenitales al útero es rara y el compromiso al cuello uterino es excepcional, especialmente del tipo histológico de carcinoma de células en anillo de sello. Se presentan tres casos encontrados en 240 adenocarcinomas cervicales (1,25 por ciento) diagnosticados entre 1979-2012. Dos casos se presentaron en pacientes de 48 y 56 años originados en carcinomas lobulillares infiltrantes de la mama diagnosticados previamente. La primera paciente está viva a 19 meses del diagnóstico ginecológico y la segunda falleció a los 14 meses, siendo en ambas un hallazgo histológico incidental en cirugías realizadas por patología ginecológica benigna. El tercer caso se presentó en una paciente de 43 años que debutó por metrorragia y tumor cervical y fue originado en un carcinoma gástrico infiltrante difuso, encontrado en forma sincrónica y fallece a los 2 meses del diagnóstico. Se revisan los criterios diagnósticos entre metástasis y carcinoma primario de células en anillo de sello del cuello uterino y el aporte al diagnóstico de la histología convencional, la inmunohistoquímica y la tipificación molecular de HPV. Conclusión: Se concluye que la metástasis de carcinoma de células en anillo al cuello uterino es rara y el pronóstico es malo. La citoreducción y la quimioterapia podría tener un rol para casos seleccionados de carcinomas metastásicos de origen mamario y que estos casos no deberían ser considerados un evento preterminal.

The uterine metastatic involving of extragenital carcinomas is rare, especially the signetring cell type. Three of such a cases were found in 240 cases of adenocarcinomas of uterine cervix (1.25 percent) diagnosed between 1979-2012. Two of these cases occurred in patients aged 48 and 56 years with infiltrating lobular carcinomas arising in the breast previously diagnosed. The first patient is alive at 19 months after diagnosis and the second is deceased at 14 months after diagnosis. In both cases, the metastasis to the cervix was an incidental histological finding in surgeries performed by benign gynecological pathology. The third case was identified in a 43-years old patient who debuted with metrorrhagia and cervical tumor which was originated in a diffuse infiltrating gastric carcinoma that was found synchronously and she is dead at 2 months after diagnosis. The diagnostic criteria between metastases and primary cervix carcinoma of signet ring cells and the contribution to the diagnosis of conventional histology, immunohistochemistry and molecular typing of HPV are reviewed. The metastasis of signet ring cell carcinoma to the uterine cervix is rare and the survival is poor. Conclusion: The role of cytoreduction and chemotherapy for selected cases of metastasis from breast carcinomas should be considered and in such a case the gynecological involvement should not be considered a preterminal event.

Metastatic signet ring gastric adenocarcinoma presenting with microangiopathic hemolytic anemia.

Metastatic adenocarcinoma presenting as microangiopathic hemolytic anemia (MAHA) and leukoerythroblastic blood picture is rare. We report three patients who presented with MAHA as the initial symptom of metastatic signet ring cell gastric adenocarcinoma. One patient had past history of gastric ulcer. In all these patients the initial diagnosis was based on peripheral blood smear followed by bone marrow biopsy; upper GI endoscopy showed presence of gastric ulcers with focally scattered neo-plastic signet ring cells on histopathology. All patients died within a week of diagnosis.

Radiologic findings of metastatic signet ring cell carcinoma to the breast from stomach

Two Korean women (41 and 23-years of age) presented with painful breast enlargement and redness. The involved breast was confirmed as metastatic signet ring cell carcinoma. Although metastatic signet ring cell carcinoma of the breast shows similar clinical symptoms to inflammatory breast cancer, the difference between the two is that this malignancy showed no microcalcifications or mass on radiographic findings (mammograms and US). Therefore, after the confirmation of signet ring cell carcinoma of the breast has been made, metastatic signet ring cell carcinoma should be considered if there are no microcalcifications or masses evident on radiographic findings.