[Metastasis of gastric cancer to the spleen--a case report]

Metastasis to the spleen is often found in cases with malignant hematologic disorders. To our knowledge, however, few survivors with primary gastric cancer and splenic metastasis have been reported. A 64-year-old woman underwent curative total gastrectomy combined with pancreaticosplenectomy for gastric cancer, Borrmann III type, in the upper body of the stomach and cardia. Postoperative histologic examination revealed that the poorly differentiated adenocarcinoma had metastasized to the spleen. The low incidence of splenic metastasis from gastric cancer may be a reflection of special antineoplastic traits of the spleen related to phagocytic qualities, or to humoral factors which are as yet unidentified.