Pathological characteristics of gastric cancer that develop hematogenous recurrence, with special reference to the site of recurrence

The pathologic characteristics of gastric cancer in 57 patients with hematogenous recurrence were pathologically analyzed by the site of recurrence. In recurrence of gastric cancer that developed in the liver, macroscopic observation revealed that cancers of Borrmann type 2 and 3 were most frequent. Microscopic examination revealed that the rate of occurrence of the medullary type of differentiated or poorly differentiated adenocarcinoma were high and that there were relatively frequent invasion by cancerous cells of the blood vessel that were closely related to the hematogenous metastasis. On the other hand, with respect to recurrence of gastric cancer that had developed in the lung or bone, Borrmann type 3 and 4, respectively, were more frequently observed. In these cases, microscopic analysis revealed that these cancers were poorly differentiated adenocarcinomas. In gastric cancer with bone recurrence, the rate of recurrence of the scirrhous type of tumor were higher than that of other types. It is important, for the management of patients after gastric cancer surgery, to predict possible hematogenous recurrence and its site by evaluation of the pathologic characteristics of the gastric cancer.