Gastric cancer presenting with obstructive jaundice.

Gastric cancer is rarely associated with obstructive jaundice, which is associated with poor survival. We describe five patients with gastric cancer who presented with jaundice. Two patients had primary gastric cancer and three had recurrent disease. The patients were treated by operation, chemotherapy, and percutaneous transhepatic biliary drainage (PTBD) according to the stage of the cancers. Although these treatments often fail to prolong survival, chemotherapy and PTBD can improve patient's quality of life.