Gastric aggressive fibromatosis: report of a case and review of the literature

Abstract

Objectives: To describe a rare case of aggressive fibromatosis of the stomach and discuss the differential diagnoses.

Methods: A 47-year-old man presented with nonspecific abdominal pain. Gastroscopy revealed stomach wall swelling. An antral gastrectomy was performed. Histological examination revealed spindle-shaped cells and morphology typical of aggressive fibromatosis. We performed a literature search to identify conditions with features similar to those of aggressive fibromatosis.

Results: Aggressive fibromatosis does not metastasize, but it is locally invasive and has a tendency to relapse; however, our patient has not had recurrence > 1 year after surgery. Aggressive fibromatosis of the stomach may be confused with an inflammatory fibroid polyp, a gastrointestinal stromal tumor, schwannoma, leiomyoma, inflammatory myofibroblastic tumor, scirrhous carcinoma of the stomach, follicular dendritic cell sarcoma, inflammatory malignant fibrous histiocytoma, myofibroma/myofibromatosis, and solitary fibrous tumor of the stomach.

Conclusions: Aggressive fibromatosis of the stomach is a rare spindle cell tumor that must be differentiated from a variety of conditions.

Keywords: Gastric tumor; aggressive fibromatosis; clinicopathological features; differential diagnosis; immunohistochemistry.