OBJECTIVEThis review discusses the current status and progress in studies on gastric cancer with liver metastasis (GCLM), involving the routes, subtypes, and prognosis of GCLM; the genes and molecules associated with metastasis; the feasibility and value of each imaging modality; and current treatment options.

DATA SOURCESThe data used in this review were mainly from Medline and PubMed published in English from 2005 to August 2010. The search terms were "gastric cancer" and "liver metastasis".

STUDY SELECTIONArticles regarding the characteristics, diagnostic modalities, and various therapeutic options of GCLM were selected.

RESULTSThe prognosis of GCLM is influenced by the clinicopathological characteristics of primary tumors, as well as the presence of liver metastases. Improved understanding of related genes and molecules will lead to the development of methods of early detection and targeted therapies. For the diagnosis of GCLM, each imaging modality has its relative benefits. There remains no consensus regarding therapeutic options.

CONCLUSIONSEarly detection and characterization of liver metastases is crucial for the prognosis of gastric cancer patients. Multidisciplinary team discussions are required to design optimal treatment strategies, which should be based on the clinicopathological characteristics of each patient.

Humans ; Liver Neoplasms ; diagnosis ; drug therapy ; secondary ; surgery ; Stomach Neoplasms ; complications ; diagnosis ; drug therapy ; surgery

Combined hepatocellular-cholangiocarcinoma (HCC-CC) is a primary liver cancer with histopathologic features of both hepatocelluar carcinoma and cholangiocarcinoma. As combined HCC-CC has been associated with poor outcomes, accurate diagnosis and proper treatment planning for patients are considered to be important for improving survival. Currently, surgery is known as the only treatment modality offering potential cure for localized disease. However, there are little published treatment options for advanced or recurrent disease. Furthermore, no published reports exist in respect to the applying successful curative resection after neoadjuvant therapy for advanced combined HCC-CC. Here, we report a case of combined HCC-CC subtype with stem cell feature, intermediate type who underwent curative surgical resection after neoadjuvant chemotherapy consisting of cisplatin and gemcitabine. Pathologic report revealed negative resection margin and follow-up imaging study shows no evidence of tumor recurrence.
Cholangiocarcinoma ; Cisplatin ; Diagnosis ; Drug Therapy* ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Liver Neoplasms ; Neoadjuvant Therapy ; Recurrence ; Stem Cells

Gastric cancer is a major cause of cancer-related mortality. At the time of diagnosis, majority of the patients usually have unresectable or metastatic disease. The most common sites of metastases are the liver and the peritoneum, but in the advanced stages, there may be metastases to any region of the body. Bone marrow is an important metastatic site for solid tumors, and the prognosis in such cases is poor. In gastric cancer cases, bone marrow metastasis is usually observed in younger patients and in those with poorly differentiated tumors. Prognosis is worsened owing to the poor histomorphology as well as the occurrence of pancytopenia. The effect of standard chemotherapy is unknown, as survival is limited to a few weeks. This report aimed to evaluate 5 gastric cancer patients with bone marrow metastases to emphasize the importance of this condition.
Bone Marrow* ; Diagnosis ; Drug Therapy ; Humans ; Liver ; Mortality ; Neoplasm Metastasis* ; Pancytopenia ; Peritoneum ; Prognosis ; Stomach Neoplasms

Trophoblastic differentiation in gynecologic nontrophoblastic tumor is very rare. Here we present a 66-year-old female with poorly differentiated endometrial carcinoma showing trophoblast-like differentiation. This tumor was in advanced stage with metastases to lung, liver, and bone at diagnosis. The multinucleated, syncytiotrophoblast-like cells were positive for beta-human chorionic gonadotropin (beta-hCG) by immunochemical stain. The level of beta-hCG was also elevated (219 mIU/ml) in the patient's serum, but dropped after surgery and chemotherapy. beta-hCG may be used as tumor marker in this case.
Adenocarcinoma* ; Aged ; Chorionic Gonadotropin ; Diagnosis ; Drug Therapy ; Endometrial Neoplasms ; Female ; Humans ; Liver ; Lung ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Trophoblasts*

Carcinoma, Hepatocellular ; drug therapy ; therapy ; Chemoembolization, Therapeutic ; Female ; Humans ; Intracranial Embolism ; chemically induced ; diagnosis ; Iodized Oil ; administration & dosage ; adverse effects ; Liver Neoplasms ; drug therapy ; therapy ; Middle Aged

Although pancreatic leiomyosarcoma (PLM) is a rare malignant pancreatic cancer, it usually shows aggressive biological features such as invasion to an adjacent organ or distant metastasis at the time of diagnosis. Radical resection is the best treatment modality but effective chemotherapies have not been identified. A 58-year-old female was referred to us complaining of intermittent left upper quadrant abdominal discomfort. Imaging studies revealed a 10-cm mass in the pancreatic tail. The patient underwent laparoscopic distal pancreatectomy with splenectomy, and the pathological findings were consistent with PLM. Imaging studies 14 months after surgery revealed multiple liver metastases. Because the patient was young with a sufficient remnant liver, we performed laparoscopic metastatectomy without any postoperative complications. Patients with PLM need frequent check-ups, even after curative resection. The role of laparoscopic resection should be confirmed in the future.
Diagnosis ; Drug Therapy ; Female ; Humans ; Laparoscopy ; Leiomyosarcoma* ; Liver* ; Middle Aged ; Neoplasm Metastasis* ; Pancreatectomy ; Pancreatic Neoplasms ; Postoperative Complications ; Splenectomy ; Tail

PURPOSE: Brain metastasis from colorectal cancer is a rare clinical condition. We have experienced five cases of brain metastases in a relatively short period of time during extensive chemotherapy for advanced colorectal cancer. To examine whether this phenomenon is a simple coincidence or there is a correlation with prolongation of life span in patients with stage IV colorectal cancer, we analysed five patients with brain metastases. METHODS: The case histories of 47 patients with unresectable systemic metastases who had undergone sequential chemotherapy (FOLFOX and FOLFIRI) in Ajou University Hospital from August 2002 to December 2004 were reviewed and analyzed for clinical characteristics. The sites of unresectable metastases were the liver (n=28), the lung (n=28), and the paraaortic nodes (N=6). Diagnostic criteria of unresectable metastasis were multiple or bilobar lesions in hepatic metastasis and multilobar involvement in pulmonary metastasis. RESULTS: There was no complete remission. Partial remission was noted in 31.9% of the patients and stable disease in 8.5%. Sequential chemotherapy showed no effect in 59.6% of the patients. Brain metastases occurred in five patients (10.6%). Accompanying metastases were found in the lung (n=4), the liver (n=3), the paralortic lymph nodes (n=2), and bone (n=1). Four patient (21.0%) were noted in the response group. The mean interval from primary cancer surgery to the diagnosis of brain metastasis was 27.5 (20~44) months. From the start of chemotherapy, brain metastasis was diagnosed at an average of 10.5 (8~16) months. Metastasectomies were performed in three patients, and stereotaxic radiosurgery was performed in two patients. One patient died with the disease, and four patients have been alive with the disease for more than six months. CONCLUSIONS: It is still unclear whether the increasing incidence of brain metastasis is related with prolongation of life expectancy in patients with stage IV colorectal cancer. However, about half of the stage IV colorectal cancer patients were found to obtain meaningful survival benefits by sequential chemotherapy, and 20% of chemo- responders showed brain metastases. Therefore, we conclude that the increasing incidence of brain metastasis seems to correlate with prolongation of life expectancy in stage IV colorectal cancer.
Brain* ; Colorectal Neoplasms* ; Diagnosis ; Drug Therapy* ; Humans ; Incidence ; Life Support Care ; Liver ; Lung ; Lymph Nodes ; Metastasectomy ; Neoplasm Metastasis* ; Radiosurgery

PURPOSE: For malignant diseases, predictions about tumor behavior and determination of appropriate therapy are based on the primary tumor sites, but 2-9% of cancer patients are diagnosed without identifiable primary tumor sites. Metastatic tumors of unknown primary origin (MUO) are a heterogeneous group of tumors with variable natural histories. The majority of these patients fall outside of treatable subjects and seldom respond to therapy. To define further the natural history of MUO and identify prognostic factors, we undertook a clinical analysis of 141 consecutive patients with a presumed diagnosis of MUO. MATERIALS AND METHODS: One hundred forty-one patients were diagnosed with unknown primary tumor from Jan. 1, 1992 through Aug. 31, 1995. The primary end point for the study was survival, which was calculated from the first day of patient registration diagnosed histologically. The survival curves were estimated using the Kaplan-Meier method and compared using the log-rank test. To identify important prognostic factors, univariate and multivariate analyses were conducted. RESULTS: Most of the 141 patients had histologic or cytologic evidence of adenocarcinoma and had more than one site metastatically involved. The predominant sites of tumor involvement were lymph node, peritoneum, bone, liver, lung, and pleura. Univariate and multivariate analyses identified numerous important prognostic factors with a significant influence on survival, including performance status (P 0.0001), specific organ sites involved (lung P 0.0076 or liver P 0.0310), and chemotherapy group (P- 0.0480). CONCLUSION: This study validated clinical courses and important prognostic factors that had an impact on survival in MUO.
Adenocarcinoma ; Diagnosis ; Drug Therapy ; Humans ; Liver ; Lung ; Lymph Nodes ; Multivariate Analysis ; Natural History ; Neoplasms, Unknown Primary ; Peritoneum ; Pleura

OBJECTIVETo establish the diagnosis evidence of objective tongue inspection for liver cancer (LC) patients with damp-heat syndrome (DHS) by dynamically observing their tongue figures using modern tongue image analytic apparatus, and to explore the effect of intervention on the tongue figures.

METHODSTongue figures were collected from 142 LC patients with DHS by tongue image analytic apparatus. Red (R), green (G) and blue (B) values were analyzed. The r and g values were calculated requesting r=R/(R+G+B), g=G/(R+G+B), and b=1-r-g, and scored in combination with Chinese medical symptoms scale. The tongue figure and correlated scores were collected from 59 of them 3 days after transcatheter arterial chemoembolization intervention.

RESULTSThe range of objective tongue inspection of LC patients with DHS was as follows: as for tongue fur, 0.360

CONCLUSIONThe range of objective tongue inspection of LC patients with DHS could be known by collecting and analyzing objective indicator of tongue figures, thus laying foundation for further studies with analysis of correlation between intervention and Chinese medicine based on tongue figures.

Hot Temperature ; Humans ; Image Processing, Computer-Assisted ; Liver Neoplasms ; diagnosis ; drug therapy ; Middle Aged ; Observation ; Syndrome ; Tongue ; pathology

Hemangioendothelioma is a rare vascular tumor with involvement of the liver, brain, long bones, and lung. Among the 6 histological subtypes, epithelioid hemangioendothelioma (EHE) is the most aggressive. Its occurrence in the mediastinum is quite rare, and very few cases have been documented. The reported cases in the literature have described difficulties in the preoperative diagnosis due to the unusual histological appearance of the tumor. Immunohistochemistry remains the mainstay for a definitive diagnosis. Due to its low incidence, there is no standard treatment for mediastinal EHE, but curative resection is the preferred treatment option where possible, with chemotherapy used as an adjuvant treatment or in cases of widespread inoperable disease. The present case study describes an aggressive EHE occurring in an 18-year-old woman in the anterior mediastinum.
Adolescent ; Brain ; Diagnosis ; Drug Therapy ; Female ; Hemangioendothelioma ; Hemangioendothelioma, Epithelioid* ; Humans ; Immunohistochemistry ; Incidence ; Liver ; Lung ; Mediastinum* ; Vascular Neoplasms