Gastric metastases: not only identified at autopsies

Metastases to the stomach from an extra-digestive neoplasm are an unusual event, identified in less than 2% of cancer patients at autopsy (between 1.7% to 5%). The stomach may be involved by hematogenous spread from a distant primary tumor (most commonly lung, breast and melanoma). Tumors of neighboring organs, such as esophagus, pancreas and gallbladder, may reach the stomach by continuity or by lymphatic-hematogenous spread. Endoscopic routine studies with biopsies have improved the diagnosis of this pathology. Nevertheless, in some cases the histologic study is a false negative because the neoplasia can be placed in the deepest layers of the stomach. We report the case of a 56-year-old man who presented a gastric metastasis of a high gradeuro thelial carcinoma of urinary bladder and we review the literature.