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Lymphoepithelioma-like gastric carcinoma (LELGC), first described by Watanabe et al in 1976 as gastric carcinoma with a lymphoid stroma, is an uncommon subtype of gastric carcinoma (GC), which has a better survival rate than other GCs. Gastric cancer is the second leading cause of cancer mortality in the world.
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A subsequent preoperative endoscopic biopsy showed adenocarcinoma, but the postoperative pathologic, histologic, and immunohistochemical analyses of the resected specimen revealed a final diagnosis of lymphoepithelioma-like gastric carcinoma. An ulcerative lesion was detected in the stomach by endoscopic examination, which raised suspicion of early gastric cancer. This report describes the case of a 55-year-old female patient who presented with a 10-year history of recurrent and worsening abdominal pain and melena that had been occurring for 2 mo. The clinical manifestations of lymphoepithelioma-like gastric carcinoma (including EBV-positive and -negative forms) are similar to those of gastric cancer, and the diagnosis is based on pathologic, histologic, and immunohistochemical findings. Although lymphocytic infiltration is closely associated with Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) infection, concomitant occurrence with differentiated adenocarcinoma is relatively rare. Lymphoepithelioma-like gastric carcinoma is a rare type of gastric cancer characterized by a carcinoma with intense stromal lymphocytic infiltration.
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