Gastric carcinoma presenting with extensive extraluminal growth: report of a case

We report a 48-year-old-man with gastric carcinoma presenting with an unusual extraluminal growth. The patient underwent a barium meal examination and gastrofiberscopy because of progressive anemia over 6 months. These examinations revealed a Borrmann type 3 advanced gastric carcinoma of the greater curvature of the antrum. Biopsies showed moderately differentiated tubular adenocarcinoma. The intraoperative findings showed gastric carcinoma associated with extensive extraluminal invasion into the adjacent organs, i.e., the transverse colon and mesocolon. A palliative distal gastrectomy with a partial resection of the transverse colon was performed because of peritoneal dissemination found in the mesocolon and rectovesical pouch. A histological examination of the specimen confirmed adenocarcinoma which had massively infiltrated the transverse colon and mesocolon. His postoperative course was uneventful. However, he died of peritonitis carcinomatosa 9 months later.