A successful treatment for metastatic liver tumors from endocrine carcinoma of the stomach

Abstract

Endocrine carcinomas (ECs) of the stomach reveal prominently aggressive behavior and have poor prognoses. Optimal treatments for gastric ECs have not been established because of the rarity of EC. In general, patients with gastric ECs die within a year of diagnosis in spite of surgical resections and subsequent chemotherapies. Liver metastases are the most common cause of death in gastric ECs, and their control is very important for improving the poor prognosis associated with the disease. In the present report, we describe a case in which a subject with stomach EC was diagnosed at an early stage. However, multiple liver metastases occurred soon after curative surgical resection and were treated via hepatic arterial infusion (HAI) with a combination of cisplatin and 5-fluorouracil. Consequently, the tumors almost completely disappeared. HAI therapy is a useful treatment for multiple metastatic liver tumors from gastric ECs devoid of metastases in other organs. Previously published therapies used to treat ECs of the stomach, including the ones used in the current case, are also discussed herein.