Cronkhite-canada syndrome associated with gastric cancer: report of a case

A 71-year-old man with characteristic clinical and pathological pictures of Cronkhite-Canada syndrome associated with gastric cancer is presented. Histological examinations of gastric and colonic polyps which resembled juvenile type revealed no malignant cells. The patient slowly recovered after subtotal gastrectomy and elemental diet supplement with antiplasmin agents. As for as is known to the authors, a total of 69 cases with this syndrome were reported in Japan including our patient. Of these cases 8 had cancer of the gastrointestinal tract. Two of them, including our case, had gastric cancer. Another one was associated with gastric cancer but not intestinal polyposis. The remaining 5 cases were associated with colonic cancer. Caution must be paid to the fact that cachexia or malabsorption in some patients with this syndrome results from gastrointestinal malignancy. The prognosis of this syndrome consisted of 20 deaths including 2 postoperative deaths, 33 of improvement including 4 of natural remission and 4 of remission after gastrectomy or colectomy, 7 unchanged and the remainder not described.