Published online Dec 7, 2006. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v12.i45.7326
Revised: September 28, 2006
Accepted: October 30, 2006
Published online: December 7, 2006
AIM: To evaluate the clinical and endoscopic patterns in a large series of patients with metastatic tumors in the stomach.
METHODS: A total of 64 patients with gastric meta-stases from solid malignant tumors were retros-pectively examined between 1990 and 2005. The clinicopathological findings were reviewed along with tumor characteristics such as endoscopic pattern, location, size and origin of the primary sites.
RESULTS: Common indications for endoscopy were anemia, bleeding and epigastric pain. Metastases presented as solitary (62.5%) or multiple (37.5%) tumors were mainly located in the middle or upper third of stomach. The main primary metastatic tumors were from breast and lung cancer and malignant melanoma.
CONCLUSION: As the prognosis of cancer patients has been improving gradually, gastrointestinal (GI) metastases will be encountered more often. Endoscopic examinations should be conducted carefully in patients with malignancies, and endoscopic biopsies and information on the patient’s clinical history are useful for correct diagnosis of gastric metastases.