Gastric Glomus Tumors: The Roles of Endoscopic Ultrasound and Shared Decision-Making

Abstract

Gastric glomus tumors (GGTs) are mesenchymal neoplasms with indolent behavior that originate from the subepithelial layers of the stomach and represent up to 1% of all gastric tumors. GGT is detected incidentally during esophagogastroduodenoscopy (EGD) in a proportion of patients. Endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) evaluation of GGT is essential to establish the diagnosis and to differentiate it from gastrointestinal stromal tumors or gastric neuroendocrine tumors. An 80-year-old man who presented for abdominal discomfort was incidentally found to have a gastric antral nodule on EGD. Endoscopic biopsy demonstrated moderately erythematous gastric antral mucosa and a 1.5 cm subepithelial lesion along the greater curvature. An EUS revealed a subepithelial 1.6 cm × 1.3 cm isoechoic, homogenous lesion with small calcifications. Immunohistochemical staining of the fine needle biopsy specimen of the nodule was positive for neoplastic cells, smooth muscle actin, vimentin, patchy muscle-specific actin, and synaptophysin. There were no atypical cytologic features. These findings were consistent with GGT. The patient was not deemed to be a candidate for surgical resection due to advanced age and resolution of his symptoms. A shared decision was made to pursue regular surveillance. EUS is essential for evaluation of GGT. Currently, there are no guideline recommendations for surveillance of GGT detected on routine EGD in asymptomatic individuals. A definitive surgical treatment with partial gastrectomy was favored in previously published literature. For asymptomatic patients with GGT or those with resolution of symptoms, careful surveillance with serial abdominal imaging and EUS may be a reasonable option, especially in older patients with poor surgical candidacy.

Keywords

• endoscopic ultrasound
• gastrointestinal tract
• subepithelial tumor
• stomach
• glomus tumor