Two cases of early gastric carcinoma with synchronous liver metastasis.

We have experienced two cases of early gastric cancer with synchronous liver metastasis. One patient was a 64-year-old man diagnosed as having early gastric cancer type 0 IIa at 15 x 10 mm on the lesser curvature of the cardia. The other patient was a 58-year-old man diagnosed as having early gastric cancer type 0 IIa + IIc at 24 x 18 mm on the posterior wall of the antrum. The histological findings showed that proliferation of moderately differentiated tubular adenocarcinoma with hepatoid pattern was massively invading to the deep layer of the submucosa, with positive lymph vessel, vein invasion and lymph node metastasis, in both cases. These results suggested that elevated or mixed macroscopic type, differentiated adenocarcinoma massively invading to the deep layer of submucosa, positive lymph vessel and vein invasion, lymph node metastasis, and hepatoid adenocarcinoma were risk factors for liver metastasis from early gastric cancer.