Spontaneous regression of a carcinoma of the residual stomach with latent carcinoma of the pancreas: autopsy report.

An 85-yr-old female was subjected to subtotal gastrectomy for double early carcinomas. Five years later a hemispheric protuberant lesion was observed endoscopically in the residual stomach and found by biopsy to be adenocarcinoma. Because of her poor general condition, anticancerous drugs were not given. She gradually became debilitated, and died 10 months later. At autopsy there was no protuberant lesion in the residual stomach and no cancer was found on multiple-step microscopical sections. A small pancreatic cancer with regional lymph node metastasis was found incidentally. In an immunohistological examination, only the carcinoma of the pancreas and its lymph node metastasis were positively stained with monoclonal anti-CA19-9 antibody-PAP. This is a rare case of a spontaneous regression of human gastric carcinoma, and was proved by autopsy.