A CASE OF GASTRIC CANCER WITH EXTENSIVE CALCIFIED LIVER METASTASIS

Abstract

A case of gastric cancer associating with histological calcification which also had an extensive calcified liver metastasis is described. A 69-year-old man was diagnosed as having a gastric cancer of Borrmann's 2 type, and distal gastrectomy was carried out. The gastric cancer was in stage II and was identified POHOnlpm, and histopathologically moderately differentiated adenocarcinoma. A lot of psammomatous microcalcifications were seen within the lumen of adenocarcinoma is the primary lesion and lymph node metastasis. Two years later multiple liver metastases with calcification was found on CT. Intraarterial infusion chemotherapy and successive systemic chemotherapy were performed. The growth rate of the tumors were slow, and the patient was able to survive for 4 years and 5 months after operation. The mechanism of calcification within cancer is still unknown, but the main cause appears to lie in mucinous secretion from the cancer cells. Anoxic necrosis of the tumor might accelerate the calcification especially in the liver metastases. In this case the doubling time of liver metastasis calculated from changes of serum CEA value and the maximum tumor diameter on CT was long, indicating a fact that calcified gastric cancers may be promised to have a favorable prognosis.