Four Cases of Large Cell Neuroendocrine Carcinoma of the Stomach: Findings on CT and Barium Studies

is extremely rare and represents only a small percentage of all endocrine tumors. According to the WHO classification of gastric tumors, there are two subtypes of gastric endocrine tumors based on the histopathological classification (1). A well-differentiated endocrine tumor and poorly-differentiated endocrine carcinoma are the two major types of lesions; the well-differentiated endocrine tumor is equivalent to a carcinoid and the majority of poorly differentiated endocrine carcinomas is equivalent to a small cell carcinoma. A large cell neuroendocrine carcinoma, which is in the minority of poorly-differentiated neuroendocrine carcinomas, is composed of large cells having organoid, trabecular, and palisading patterns that are suggestive of endocrine differentiation (2). Primary and metastatic large cell neuroendocrine carcinomas have not been well described in the stomach because of their extreme rarity. Although radiological studies such as CT imaging or barium studies can be useful for the determination of tumor staging and the evaluation of the morphological appearances of gastric tumors, to the best of our knowledge, there has been no radiology report describing the imaging features of a gastric large cell neuroendocrine carcinoma. We report here the appearance of primary large cell neuroendocrine carcinomas of the stomach based on barium J Korean Radiol Soc 2008;58:607-612