Microsatellite instability/mismatch repair deficiency and activation of the Wnt/beta-catenin signaling pathway in gastric adenocarcinoma of the fundic gland A case report

Rationale: Gastric adenocarcinoma of the fundic gland is a rare, well-differentiated variant of gastric adenocarcinoma, which has been proposed as a novel disease entity. As a result of mismatch repair deficiency, microsatellite instability has been frequently observed in various human cancers and widely performed in the area of cancer pathogenesis. Herein, we report a case of gastric adenocarcinoma of fundic gland presented with microsatellite instability phenotype. Patient concerns: A 46-year-old man was referred to our hospital for abdominal distension and pain. Diagnosis: The patient contained 3 tumor lesions with different degrees of histologic differentiation and microsatellite instability. The lesions were located in the upper third of the stomach. The tumor size was 55 mm. Macroscopically, tumor showed an ulcerative type. In terms of depth of invasion, tumor lesion invaded into subserosa with lymphatic invasion. In addition, this patient did not present GNAS mutation but harbored AXIN2 mutation. By immunohistochemistry, the expression level of beta-catenin protein in the nucleus of the carcinoma cells was obviously higher than that in normal nucleus. Compared with microsatellite instability-low lesion, PD-1, PD-L1, and CD8 were positive in the microsatellite instability-high lesions. Interventions: The patient underwent surgical resection and postoperative chemotherapy. Outcomes: The patient experienced distant metastasis and died from severe complications after 6 months of treatment. Lessons: These results suggested that the mutation of Wnt component genes associated with Wnt/beta-catenin signaling pathway activation may play a role in promoting the occurrence of gastric adenocarcinoma of fundic gland. This is the first report of a gastric adenocarcinoma of fundic gland with microsatellite instability. These findings modify our understanding of the pathophysiology of gastric adenocarcinoma of fundic gland.