Gastric signet ring carcinoma

At low power (upper panel) the normal lamina propria is replaced by an infiltrate that has either destroyed or separated the normal gastric glands. At high power (lower panel) the infiltrate consist of sheets of neoplastic cells with hyperchromatic and pleomorphic nuclei. In some cells, the nuclei are compressed at the cell membrane secondary to the accumulation of large amounts of cytoplasmic glycoproteins and appear as classic "signet ring" cells (arrow). Signet ring cell cancer usually presents as a diffusely infiltrative tumor. Gastric cancers that spread through the submucosa are known as "Linitis Plastica" but not all such cancers are of the signet ring type.