title: Successfully treated metachronous liver metastasis of alpha-fetoprotein-producing early gastric cancer: case report.
abstract: We treated a 57-year-old male with liver metastasis derived from an alpha-fetoprotein-producing early gastric cancer. Eleven months after distal gastrectomy with D2 lymph node dissection, the patient underwent hepatectomy of segment 4 to resect a liver tumor 3 cm in diameter found by abdominal computed tomography. Immunohistochemical examination of the stomach and liver specimens, using anti-alpha-fetoprotein antibody, showed partial alpha-fetoprotein expression in both the primary gastric and metastatic hepatic tumors. The patient's serum alpha-fetoprotein level had been elevated at 302 ng/mL before hepatectomy, but the level remained below 5 ng/mL postoperatively. The patient remains alive without tumor recurrence 3 years after hepatectomy. There have been few previous reports of good outcome after curative resection of a metachronous liver metastasis derived from alpha-fetoprotein-producing gastric cancer. The assessment of serum alpha-fetoprotein level may be useful for detecting and monitoring liver metastasis in gastric cancer, especially for alpha-fetoprotein-producing tumors.
authors.affiliation: First Department of Surgery, Kagoshima University School of Medicine, Kagoshima, Japan.
authors.forename: Satoshi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Akune
authors.forename: Tetsushi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Saihara
authors.forename: Sumiya
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ishigami
authors.forename: Shuichi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hokita
authors.forename: Shoji
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Natsugoe
authors.forename: Takashi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Aikou
mesh_terms: D000230:Adenocarcinoma / Q000378:metabolism / Q000556:secondary / Q000601:surgery*; D006801:Humans; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism / Q000556:secondary / Q000601:surgery*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012074:Remission Induction; D013274:Stomach Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology*; D000509:alpha-Fetoproteins / Q000096:biosynthesis
chemical_list: D000509:alpha-Fetoproteins