Solitary intraperitoneal recurrence of alpha-fetoprotein-producing gastric carcinoma: report of a case.

A solitary recurrence of gastric carcinoma in the peritoneal cavity is extremely rare. We herein present a case of solitary intraperitoneal recurrence in a patient with alpha-fetoprotein (AFP)-producing gastric carcinoma. As far as we can determine, this is the first report of such a form of recurrence in a patient with gastric carcinoma who underwent a successful resection. A review of our eight patients who had AFP-producing gastric carcinoma showed a frequent association with hepatic metastasis and a poor prognosis as has been reported previously. Our patient received intra-arterial chemotherapy with low-dose cisplatin and 5-fluorouracil to prevent hepatic recurrence, but eventually developed multiple hepatic metastases after ceasing this therapy. Therefore, adjuvant intra-arterial chemotherapy may have altered the site of first recurrence in this patient.