Early gastric cancer associated with synchronous liver metastasis.

During the 14 years from 1976 to 1989, 1442 gastric cancers were resected in the Department of Surgery at Kurume University. 546 (37.9%) were primary early gastric cancers. One (0.2%) of these was associated with a synchronous liver metastasis. In the advanced gastric cancers, the rate of synchronous liver metastasis was 12.8%. However, synchronous liver metastasis with an early gastric cancer is quite rate. Only 19 cases have been reported in the Japanese literature. A case involving an early cancer, 10 mm in diameter, that was associated with liver metastasis is reported.