• Journal of Gastric Cancer
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• v.9 no.4
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• pp.256-261
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• 2009

Purpose: With the development of diagnostic techniques, second primary neoplasms such as synchronous or metachronous cancers in gastric cancer patients are being increasingly found. In this study, we investigated the clinicopathological features and clinical significance of gastric neoplasms combined with synchronous and metachronous cancers. Materials and Methods: 1,048 patients who were diagnosed with gastric cancer in Chosun University Hospital from January 1998 to March 2008 were retrospectively reviewed. Results: 38 of the 1,048 patients with gastric cancer (3.6%) had synchronous and metachronous cancers. Of the 38 patients, 16 patients (42.1%) had synchronous cancer and 22 patients (57.9%) had metachronous cancer. The average time interval between gastric cancer and the secondary primary cancer was $27.08{\pm}31.25$ months. The most common second primary neoplasm was lung cancer (8/38, 21.1%), followed by colorectal cancer (8/38, 21.1%). Among the 27 patients who underwent surgical resection for gastric cancer, 5 patients (18.5%) were in the synchronous group and 22 patients (81.5%) were in the metachronous group. The mean survival time of the 38 patients was 49.8 months. The mean survival time was 24.6 months for the synchronous cancer patients and 68.1 month for the metachronous cancer patients. The 3 year survival rate of the synchronous group and the metachronous group was 33.3% and 81.1%, respectively. Conclusion: We must pay attention on the preoperative workup for synchronous cancer and on the postoperative follow-up for metachronous cancer in gastric cancer patients.

• Journal of Gastric Cancer
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• v.9 no.3
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• pp.128-135
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• 2009

Purpose: The aim of this study was to compare synchronous and metachronous hepatic metastases in patients with gastric cancer to determine clinicopathologic features and differences in prognosis as a function of the timing of the metastasis and the treatment modality rendered. Materials and Methods: Sixty-seven patients who were diagnosed with gastric cancer metastatic to the liver and treated at the Hanyang University Hospital between June 1992 and December 2006 were retrospectively analyzed to study the pertinent clinicopathologic features and effect of treatment methods. Results: There was a significant difference with respect to lymphatic (P=0.041) and vascular invasion (P=0.036) in comparing the clinicopathologic features between the patients with synchronous and metachronous hepatic metastases. The 1-year survival rate and median survival time of patients with gastric cancer and liver metastases were 38.9% and 9.2 months in the entire patient cohort, 30.9% and 9.2 months in the synchronous group, and 44.5% and 9.7 months in the metachronus group, respectively (P=0.436). The group of patients undergoing local treatment (such as surgery and radiologic intervention) followed by systemic chemotherapy, the group of patients receiving systemic chemotherapy only, and the untreated group of patients were compared, and there was no difference between the synchronous and metachronous groups. The synchronous and metachronous groups had high survival rates with local treatment. Conclusion: In patients with gastric cancer and liver metastases, there was no difference in prognosis based on the timing of the hepatic metastases. Independent of the timing of hepatic metastasis, aggressive treatment, such as surgery and radiologic intervention, may help improve the prognosis.

• Journal of Gastric Cancer
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• v.7 no.4
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• pp.261-264
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• 2007

A gastric adenocarcinoma is the second most common cause of cancer deaths worldwide, but there are some geographical differences in its incidence. A gastrointestinal tumor is an uncommon disease with a wide spectrum of aggressive behavior. These two tumors have a distinct pathogenesis, and synchronous occurrence of an adenocarcinoma and a GIST (gastrointestinal stromal tumor) in the stomach is very rare. We report a case of synchronous occurrence of a gastric adenocarcinoma and GIST in a 64-year-old man. We performed the following tests: barium swallowing test, gastroduodenoscopy, and CT scanning. We performed a total gastrectomy, and a 9 em-sized GIST at the fundus and a small early gastric cancer at the antrum were confirmed pathologically. Some explanations for this rare case exist, but in our opinion, the synchronous occurrence is a rare but probable event that can happen in an endemic area. We describe a case of synchronous occurrence of a gastric adenocarcinoma and GIST in the stomach, with a review of the literature.

• Journal of Gastric Cancer
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• v.6 no.4
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• pp.237-243
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• 2006

Purpose: This study was conducted to evaluate the treatment outcomes and the prognosis for gastric cancer patients with hepatic metastasis. Materials and Methods: This retrospective study was based on the medical records of 85 gastric cancer patients with hepatic metastasis (62 synchronous and, 23 metachronous) who received chemotherapy with or without resectional therapy from March 1990 to March 2006. The survival rate was analyzed according to clinicopathologic factors and therapeutic factors, such as whether or not a gastrectomy, a hepatic resection, and/or chemotherapy had been performed. Results: The median survival of gastric cancer patients with hepatic metastasis was 11 months (synchronous: 11 months and metachronous: 17 months). The rates of gastrectomies and hepatic resections in the synchronous group were 24.1% and 16.1%, respectively A 23.5% prevalence of extra-hepatic metastasis was observed. The median survivals of patients who underwent a gastrectomy with a hepatic resection, a gastrectomy alone, and non-surgical treatment were 60, 18, and 9 months, respectively (P<0.05). The disease-free median survival of the metachronous group was 8 ($3{\sim}39$) months. There was no difference in initial pathologic stage and frequency of hepatic metastasis after the gastrectomy in the metachronous group. In the synchronous group, extra-hepatic metastasis, a gastrectomy as the operative procedure, a hepatic resection as the operative procedure and the response to chemotherapy were statistically significant in the univariate analysis, and a hepatic resection as the operative procedure, the response to chemotherapy, and extra-hepatic metastasis were independant prognostic factors identified by the multivariate analysis. In the metachronous group, extra-hepatic metastasis, the response to chemotherapy and differentiation were statistically significant in the univariate analysis, and extra-hepatic metastasis was an independent prognostic factor identified by the multivariate analysis. Conclusion: An aggressive surgical therapy and effective chemotherapy are necessary in the treatment of gastric cancer patients with hepatic metastasis. (J Korean Gastric Cancer Assoc 2006;6:237-243)

• Journal of Gastric Cancer
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.63-67
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• 2009

Splenic marginal zone lymphoma (SMZL) is a rare type of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL). We report here on a patient who displayed the synchronous occurrence of SMZL and early gastric cancer (EGC). The patient was a 74 year-old male with liver cirrhosis. An EGC in the gastric antrum was diagnosed and the preoperative abdomen computed tomography scan revealed splenomegaly and intra-abdominal lymphadenopathy. We performed subtotal gastrectomy and the postoperative pathologic examination revealed adenocarcinoma limited to the gastric mucosa and SMZL in the lymph nodes. The patient recovered from the surgery without complications and is now awaiting chemotherapy. SMZL has an indolent clinical course with good long-term survival and so there is the possibility of the occurrence of a second primary malignancy. Rare cases of a second primary malignancy being diagnosed along with SMZL have been described in the literature. Patients with SMZL should be carefully followed after treatment to detect the possible occurance of a second primary malignancy.

• Journal of Gastric Cancer
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.14-17
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• 2009

The clinical significance of hepatic resection for gastric metastases is controversial, even though hepatic resection has been widely accepted as a modality for colorectal metastases. Very few patients with gastric hepatic metastases are good candidates for hepatic resection because of multiple bilateral metastases, extrahepatic disease, or advanced cancer progression, such as peritoneal dissemination or extensive lymph node metastases. Therefore, several authors have reported the clinical significance of hepatic resection for gastric metastases in a small number of patients. Considering the present results with previous reports. The number and distribution of tumors in hepatic metastases from gastric cancer was considered based on the present and previous reports. Several authors have reported significantly better survival in patients with metachronous metastasis than in those with synchronous disease. However, metachronous hepatic resection necessitates the dissection of adhesions between the pancreas, liver, and residual stomach to prepare for Pringle's maneuver. Patients with unilobar liver metastasis, and/or metastatic tumors <4 cm in diameter may be good candidates for hepatic resection. Synchronous metastasis is not a contraindication for hepatic resection. Most of the long-term survivors underwent anatomic hepatic resection with a sufficient resection margin. After hepatic resection, the most frequent site of recurrence was the remaining liver, which was associated with a high frequency of mortality within 2 years. A reasonable strategy for improvement in survival would be to prevent recurrence by means of adjuvant chemotherapy and careful follow-up studies.

• Journal of Gastric Cancer
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• v.6 no.3
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• pp.181-188
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• 2006

Purpose: Heregulin is a natural ligand for erbB3 and erbB4. However, very little is known about their roles in the gastric cancer This retrospective study was performed to evaluate the frequencies of heregulin and erbB family protein expression and to compare their expressions with clinicopathologic parameters. Materials and Methods: Immunohistochemical expressions of heregulin and erbB family proteins were examined with tissue micro-array slides. A total of 251 gastric adenocarcinomas were classified as early cancers and advanced cancers and as having and not having lymph node metastases. Results: The positive rates of the heregulin, erbB1, erbB2, erbB3, and erbB4 protein stainings were 64%, 68%, 6%, 88%, and 76%, respectively. Intestinal type gastric adenocarcinomas showed higher expression of heregulin, erbB2, erbB3, and erbB4 proteins. Heregulin and erbB4 proteins showed lower expressions in advanced gastric carcinomas. However, erbB2 protein showed higher expression in advanced gastric carcinomas. The protein expressions of heregulin and erbB family proteins showed no relationship with survival rate. Co-expression groups of heregulin and erbB3 proteins or heregulin and erbB4 proteins showed higher expressions in intestinal type adenocarcinomas and early gastric carcinomas. Conclusion: Heregulin, erbB3, and erbB4 proteins may play a role in the early stage of adenocarcinomas.

• Journal of Gastric Cancer
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• v.6 no.3
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• pp.189-192
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• 2006

Acute disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC) associated with gastric cancer is not common and has short survival of 1 to 3 weeks. Systemic chemotherapy in spite of hematologic unstability for gastric cancer may prolong survival time. A 47-year-old woman who complained of dyspnea, vaginal bleeding and easy bruisibility was diagnosed to stage IV gastric cancer with acute disseminated intravascular coagulation based on the laboratory data. She also had multiple bone metastases and bone marrow involvement. This is the first case treated with combination chemotherapy of irinotecan and cisplatin for advanced gastric cancer complicated by disseminated intravascular coagulation at the time of diagnosis, With systemic chemotherapy, some of the bleeding symptoms and the DIC process improved, even not completely recovered. However the patient died of disease progression and survival time was 12 weeks.

• Journal of Gastric Cancer
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• v.4 no.4
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• pp.277-281
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• 2004

Early gastric cancer (EGC) is defined as a carcinoma confined to the mucosa or submucosa of the stomach, with or without lymph-node metastasis. Synchronous liver metastasis is 5. $12.8\%$ in advanced gastric cancer, but is very low in EGC. A 64-year-old woman was admitted to St. Vincent's Hospital with a complaint of epigastric pain. Gastrofiberscopic examination showed a polypoid mass on the gastric antrum. Abdominal computed tomography demonstrated an intraluminal polypoid mass in the gastric antrum, but no tumor mass in the liver. A laparotomy revealed a solitary liver metastasis, we performed a distal partial gastrectomy with a group-2 lymph-node dissection and resection of metastatic liver tumor. Histologic examination showed a tubular adenoma with a focal carcinomatous change, Which was confined to the gastric mucosa and to the metastatic adenocarcinoma in the liver. We present a case of early gastric mucosal cancer associated with synchronous liver metastasis, along with a review of the literature.

• Journal of Gastric Cancer
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• v.3 no.3
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• pp.139-144
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• 2003

Purpose: Because of an improving gastric cancer detection program and treatment methods, we can expect improved survival of patients with gastric cancer. Given the longer survival times, the chance of an occurrence of multiple primary malignant tumors other than stomach is increased in the same patients. The purpose of this study is to analyze the clinical characteristrics and the survival of patients with gastric cancer and other malignancies. Materials and Methods: A retrospective study of 3669 patients with gastric cancer observed at our department between January 1994 to December 2002 was conducted. Associated tumors were diagnosed using the Warren and Gates criteria, and included tumors that were not considered to be a metastasis, invasion, or recurrence of the gastric cancer. Results: Of all 3669 patients, $2.07\%$ (n=76) had primary tumors other than gastric cancer, $63\%$ of which were synchronous (n=48) and $37\%$ metachronous (n=28). The mean age of the study group was 64.9 (65.5 in males, 61.8 in females), and the male-to-female ratio was 4.8 : 1. The most common cancer associated with gastric cancer was a hepatocellular carcinoma ($23.7\%$), followed by colorectal cancer ($17.1\%$), esophageal cancer ($10.5\%$), breast cancer ($6.6\%$). Of the 45 patients who had undergone a resection, 14 were in stage I, 12 in stage II, 13 in stage III, and 6 in stage IV. No statistically significant differences were found between the synchronous and the metachronous groups with regard to age, sex ratio, differentiation, and stage. The 5-year survival rates of the metachronous and the resected patients were significantly higher than those of the synchronous and the non resected patients, respectively. Conclusion: Due to increasing length of the follow-up period for patients with gastric cancer, another malignancy may develop in other organs. Therefore, physicians should pay attention to detect other cancers early in these patients, and a surgical resection is recommended as the treatment of choice in the management of multiple primary cancer associated with gastric cancer.