[A case of early gastric cancer accompanied by Recklinghausen's disease]

In September, 1980, a 57-year-old male, was admitted to hospital for precise examinations to determine if he had Recklinghausen's disease, pneumoconiosis, and a duodenal ulcer. Endoscopy revealed a redness and a shallow depression of the posterior wall of the antrum, and a biopsy of a specimen led to the diagnosis of early gastric cancer, Stage II c. After the examination, the patient did not return to our department again. In May, 1987, however, the man was readmitted to our hospital, suffering from pains in the right back. X-ray and endoscopic findings revealed a gastric cancer with a center depression and a peripheral elevation (II a + II c). Histological findings showed the gastric cancer to be a moderately differentiated tubular adenocarcinoma, with a submucosal invasion that was also seen. This case, uncovered 80 months earlier, represents a rare instance in which an early gastric cancer, accompanied by Recklinghausen's disease, expanded slowly.