Gastric cancer with Virchow's and multiple lung metastases showing a remarkable response to preoperative chemotherapy: report of a case

Surg Today. 2001;31(4):340-5. doi: 10.1007/s005950170157.

Abstract

We report herein a rare case with advanced gastric cancer combined with group 4 lymph node and lung metastases that responded remarkably to neoadjuvant chemotherapy. A 65-year-old man was found to have a well-differentiated type 3 gastric cancer that invaded the duodenum locally and was accompanied with Virchow's, para-aortic lymph nodes, and multiple lung metastases based on physical, endoscopic, and radiological examinations. In addition, his carbohydrate antigen (CA) 19-9 was elevated to 3965U/ml, and CA72-4 to 46U/ml. Prior to surgery, he was treated with 5-fluorouracil (5-FU; 500mg/body per day) and low-dose cisplatinum (CDDP; 10mg/body per day) as neoadjuvant chemotherapy for 6 weeks. As a result, a partial response was obtained in all lesions, and CA19-9 and CA72-4 decreased to 463U/ml and 9.4U/ml, respectively. Four weeks after the completion of neoadjuvant chemotherapy, a distal gastrectomy was performed, and a histopathological examination of the resected specimen showed a grade 2 response to chemotherapy. Immunohistochemically, the thymidylate synthase expression level was very low in the tumor tissues, which might account for the good response to the combination chemotherapy with 5-FU and CDDP observed in the present case.

Publication types

  • Case Reports

MeSH terms

  • Adenocarcinoma / drug therapy
  • Adenocarcinoma / pathology
  • Adenocarcinoma / secondary*
  • Adenocarcinoma / surgery
  • Aged
  • Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols / therapeutic use*
  • Cisplatin / administration & dosage
  • Combined Modality Therapy
  • Fluorouracil / administration & dosage
  • Humans
  • Lung Neoplasms / drug therapy
  • Lung Neoplasms / pathology
  • Lung Neoplasms / secondary*
  • Lung Neoplasms / surgery
  • Lymph Node Excision
  • Lymph Nodes / pathology
  • Lymphatic Metastasis
  • Male
  • Neoadjuvant Therapy*
  • Stomach Neoplasms / drug therapy*
  • Stomach Neoplasms / pathology
  • Stomach Neoplasms / surgery

Substances

  • Cisplatin
  • Fluorouracil