Multiple and metachronous esophageal intramural metastases from a gastric adenocarcinoma

Successful curative surgery for postoperative oesophageal recurrence of oesophagogastric junction cancer

A man in his 70s had undergone total gastrectomy for oesophagogastric junction cancer. Three years and 11 months later, he began to vomit after meals and was diagnosed with mediastinal recurrence of oesophagogastric junction cancer. A CT scan showed that the tumour was suspected of infiltrating the aorta and lung. He received two cycles of chemotherapy with S-1 plus cisplatin, resulting in tumour reduction. The patient underwent resection of the lower oesophagus, including the tumour, the left lower lobe of the lung and the pericardium through a left thoracoabdominal incision. This is the first report of a patient surgically resected for postoperative oesophageal recurrence of oesophagogastric junction cancer. Although most postoperative recurrences of oesophagogastric junction cancer are far advanced at the time of diagnosis and prognosis is poor, chemotherapy followed by surgery may improve the prognosis of patients with locoregional recurrence.

Characteristics of intramural metastasis in gastric cancer

BACKGROUND

Intramural metastasis (IM) in gastric cancer is rare. However, it often occurs with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma and has been reported to have a poor prognosis.

METHODS

In 4,714 cases of gastric cancer that underwent gastrectomy, the clinicopathological features and postoperative prognoses of 29 cases with IM were evaluated and compared with 2,770 cases of advanced gastric cancer without IM.

RESULTS

Of the 4,714 cases, 29 (0.6 %) were histopathologically diagnosed with gastric cancer with IM. There were significant differences in the number of lymph node metastases, capillary invasion, and stage grouping between cases with IM and advanced gastric cancer without IM. Metastasis size was approximately within 2 cm, and many metastases occurred within 2 cm of the primary lesion. Multiple metastases were observed in 38 % of cases and occurred mainly in the submucosa and muscularis propria. IM was detected preoperatively in 17.2 % of cases and was present equally on both sides of the primary lesion. Nine cases had IM outside the stomach. The median survival time with IM was significantly less than in cases of advanced gastric cancer without IM (p < 0.0001). A subgroup of cases with IM within 1 cm of the primary lesion had a relatively favorable prognosis.

CONCLUSIONS

The presence of IM is thought to be one of the most important prognostic factors in gastric cancer. Aggressive resection is recommended to increase long-term survival if curative resection is possible.

A case of duodenal intramural metastasis from gastric cancer

INTRODUCTION

Here, we report a case of duodenal intramural metastasis from gastric cancer, which is extremely rare.

PRESENTATION OF CASE

A 72-year-old man was admitted to our hospital with a chief complaint of lack of appetite in 2010. An endoscopic evaluation detected a Borrmann type 2 tumor occupying the lesser curvature of the gastric body and antrum, and pyloric stenosis. The patient underwent total gastrectomy. In an examination of the resected specimen, a type 2 tumor was identified in the middle gastric body and antrum, and a submucosal tumor was detected in the duodenal bulb. A histopathological examination demonstrated that the gastric tumor was not contiguous with the duodenal submucosal tumor. A microscopic examination demonstrated that the gastric tumor was a moderately to poorly differentiated adenocarcinoma and displayed lymphatic permeation. The duodenal submucosal tumor was also found to be an adenocarcinoma and was similar to the gastric tumor; therefore, we diagnosed the duodenal tumor as an intramural metastasis from gastric cancer.

DISCUSSION

The most common route of metastasis from gastric cancer involves hematogenous metastasis, lymph node metastasis, and peritoneal metastasis. Intramural metastasis from gastric cancer is rare and has been reported to be a variant of lymphogenic metastasis. The clinicopathological features of patients with duodenal intramural metastasis from gastric cancer are unclear because only one case of the condition has been reported.

CONCLUSION

Duodenal intramural metastasis from gastric cancer is an advanced form of cancer, and we suggest that it should be treated with surgical resection followed by adjuvant therapy.