Cancer associated with collagen-vascular disease

Two cases of cancer, each associated with a different collagen-vascular disease, are reported. The first patient, a 71-year-old white man, had a history of acute dermatomyositis and malignancy for a few weeks only. Death was associated with adenocarcinoma of the lesser curvature of the stomach with metastases to the liver and beyond. The second patient, a 69-year-old white man, had had symptoms associated with Raynaud's phenomenon for more than a decade and difficulty in swallowing, attributed to progressive systemic sclerosis for more than two years. He died with an epidermoid carcinoma of the esophagus with extension to the lung and metastases to the liver and lungs.