title: Intra-abdominal desmoid tumor mimicking gastric cancer recurrence: a case report.
abstract: Intra-abdominal desmoid tumors are rare and most often occur in patients with a history of familial adenomatous polyposis, surgery, or pregnancy. We report a case of an intra-abdominal desmoid tumor mimicking the recurrence of gastric cancer. A 57-year-old male had undergone distal gastrectomy for advanced gastric cancer. Serum levels of carcinoembryonic antigen were found to be elevated 27 months after surgery. Computed tomography revealed a 15-mm mass in the mesentery of the transverse colon. In addition, radiotracer fluorodeoxyglucose uptake of the tumor was detected by positron emission tomography. The patient was diagnosed with gastric cancer recurrence, and chemotherapy consisting of cisplatin and S-1 was commenced. After five courses of chemotherapy, although no significant clinical response was seen, no new lesions were seen either. Thus, a curative resection of the recurrent tumor seemed possible, which was successfully performed. Histological examination of the resected specimen revealed spindle-shaped tumor cells with collagen fiber progression; no cancer cells were detected. The tumor was diagnosed as an intra-abdominal desmoid tumor. We report a rare case of an intra-abdominal desmoid tumor that mimicked a recurrent tumor arising from gastric cancer. In patients with history of surgery for intra-abdominal malignancies, it may be difficult to distinguish the recurrence of malignancy from desmoid tumors but the possibility of desmoid tumors must be considered in the differential diagnosis.
authors.forename: Akihiko
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Okamura
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, School of Medicine, Keio University, 35 Shinanomachi, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 160-8582, Japan. tsunehiro-t@a8.keio.jp.
authors.forename: Tsunehiro
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Takahashi
authors.forename: Yoshiro
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Saikawa
authors.forename: Shuhei
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Mayanagi
authors.forename: Kazumasa
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Fukuda
authors.forename: Rieko
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Nakamura
authors.forename: Norihito
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Wada
authors.forename: Hirofumi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kawakubo
authors.forename: Tai
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Omori
authors.forename: Hiroya
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Takeuchi
authors.forename: Aya
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sasaki
authors.forename: Yuko
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kitagawa
mesh_terms: D000971:Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D018221:Fibromatosis, Abdominal / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000628:therapy; D018222:Desmoid Tumors / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000628:therapy; D005743:Gastrectomy; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009364:Neoplasm Recurrence, Local / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000473:pathology; D011379:Prognosis; D013274:Stomach Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000628:therapy