Synchronous gastric tumors associated with esophageal cancer: a retrospective study of twenty-four patients.
OBJECTIVE
Synchronous gastric tumors (including benign and secondary tumors) associated with esophageal cancer present diagnostic and therapeutic issues. We investigated this synchronous association, and retrospectively determined the frequency of the gastric tumors and the clinical characteristics.


METHODS
In a series of 208 patients with esophageal cancer, we investigated the synchronous gastric tumors, as well as the frequency of association, clinicopathological characteristics, diagnosis, treatment, and the clinical outcome after surgery.


RESULTS
Twenty-eight gastric tumors were found in 24 patients. Adenocarcinoma was most frequent. Most of these tumors were located at the upper or middle third of the stomach. Eight gastric tumors in six patients could not be detected preoperatively. Six of these tumors including a gastric remnant cancer were detected in the resected stomach, and two leiomyomas were detected during the operation. In one patient in which an endoscope could not pass through the esophagus, a leiomyoma was detected in the resected stomach. For the gastric cancers, total gastrectomy or proximal gastrectomy with lymph node dissections was performed. For the benign tumors, partial resection of the stomach was performed, and endoscopic resection was performed preoperatively for an adenoma. In both the postoperative hospital mortality rate and the survival rate after surgery, there were no significant differences between the patients with and without gastric tumors.


CONCLUSIONS
Synchronous gastric tumors associated with esophageal cancer are not rare. When an endoscope cannot pass through the esophagus before surgery, other techniques must be performed to explore the stomach. For these patients, surgical treatment should be adapted positively.
Koide
N
N
Second Department of Surgery, Shinshu University School of Medicine, Matsumoto, Japan.
Adachi
W
W
Koike
S
S
Watanabe
H
H
Yazawa
K
K
Amano
J
J
D000368:Aged; D004938:Esophageal Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009378:Neoplasms, Multiple Primary / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013274:Stomach Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D015996:Survival Rate