Early gastric cancer in Menetrier's disease.

Uncommon conditions such as pernicious anaemia and hypertrophic gastropathies have been considered as risk factors for gastric cancer; however, the exact increase in risk is unknown. Menetrier's disease is a rare hyperproliferative disorder of the stomach caused by an overexpression of tumour growth factor α, a ligand for the tyrokinase epidermal growth factor receptor, resulting in a selective expansion of surface mucous cells in the body and fundus of the stomach. There have been nearly 200 cases of Menetrier's disease reported in the literature yet less than 15 have been associated with gastric adenocarcinoma. Here, we report an early stage gastric adenocarcinoma detected incidentally in a patient recently diagnosed with Menetrier's disease.