Case of early adenosquamous carcinoma of the stomach

Adenosquamous carcinoma of the stomach is very rare; at present, there are only seven published reports. We report here an eighth case involving a 77-year-old Japanese man who was diagnosed with gastric cancer by upper endoscopy and computed tomography (CT). He underwent laparoscopic-assisted distal gastrectomy for early gastric cancer and the resected specimen was diagnosed as adenosquamous carcinoma limited to the submucosal layer. Only one lymph node metastasis was noted. Seven months later, liver metastasis (3 tumors, 15 mm maximum in diameter) was detected by abdominal CT. He was started on chemotherapy with S-1 and cisplatin (CDDP) and is alive 14 months after surgery. Almost all cases of adenosquamous carcinoma of the stomach are diagnosed in advanced stages and carry a very poor prognosis. Most patients with early adenosquamous carcinoma of the stomach survive for 2 or more years without recurrence, however our patient experienced recurrence 7 months after surgery. Therefore, future treatment for recurrent adenosquamous carcinoma of the stomach should be considered.