[The pathogenesis of adenocarcinoma of the stomach after successful radiotherapy of squamous cell carcinoma of the lower intrathoracic esophagus--case report].

A case of a gastric cancer developed 3 years and 11 months after radiotherapy for esophageal cancer is reported. A 76-year-old man with a squamous cell carcinoma of the lower intrathoracic esophagus had received 50 Gy of irradiation as treatment. Thereafter, signs of the esophageal cancer disappeared radiologically and endoscopically, and a pathological biopsy of specimens taken from the site revealed no further cancer cells. The patient remained well for 3 years and 11 months after radiotherapy, at which time he again was admitted to hospital, having been diagnosed as having a gastric cancer. On admission, an upper G-I series showed a shadow defect along the lesser curvature of the upper-middle stomach but no evidence of any stenosis in the lower intrathoracic esophagus. Endoscopically, the mucosal surface of the esophagus was normal, and biopsy specimens taken from the site in the esophagus that had been treated with irradiation 3 years 11 months ago revealed no recurrence of his esophageal cancer. Endoscopical examination of the stomach showed an infiltrative tumor with ulceration, and a subsequent histological examination revealed a poorly differentiated adenocarcinoma. Upon a laparotomy, a metastasis was detected in the perigastric and paraaortic lymph nodes and the cancer had invaded the retroperitoneum. The stomach could not be removed and he died 3 months after the laparotomy.