EARLY GASTRIC-CANCER MANIFESTED AS BRAIN METASTASIS - REPORT OF A CASE

A case of early gastric cancer, limited to submucosal layer, which was manifested as cerebral metastasis is presented herein. A 47-year-old man was admitted to Nagaoka Chuo General Hospital with convulsions and a disturbance in consciousness, where a computed tomography (CT) scan revealed a cerebral tumor in the left temporal lobe. The resected tum or was identified as a metastatic adenocarcinoma. Further investigatio n revealed gastric cancer involving the posterior wall of the cardia. At laparotomy, multiple and small metastases of the liver and a jejuna l metastasis were found, and a palliative total gastrectomy was perfor med. The surgical specimen revealed a protruding, poorly differentiate d medullary adenocarcinoma, with invasion of the submucosal layer. The patient died 4 months after undergoing the laparotomy. This case repo rt is presented to make clinicians aware of the possibility that early gastric cancers may present as brain metastasis.