[Late recurrence of gastric cancer diagnosed 10 years after curative gastrectomy: a review of 30 Japanese case reports].

A woman in her 50s was referred to our hospital with intestinal obstruction. Ten years prior, she had been treated for gastric cancer, pathologically confirmed as stage IIIA poorly differentiated adenocarcinoma with signet-ring cell carcinoma. Intraoperatively, a 4-cm hard white tumor was found in the mesoileum and around the ileum. Pathological examination revealed poorly differentiated adenocarcinoma with signet-ring cell carcinoma and infiltration and fibrosis. Late peritoneal recurrence of gastric carcinoma was diagnosed. Recurrence of gastric carcinoma more than 10 years after curative gastrectomy is extremely rare. A review of 30 cases reported in Japan revealed recurrence was more frequent in females (60%) and the mean age was around 50 years at the time of primary surgery. Poorly differentiated adenocarcinoma and/or signet-ring cell carcinoma was the primary gastric cancer in 82% of cases and bone metastasis was the most frequent site of recurrence.