Port-site tumour recurrence of oral squamous carcinoma following percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy: a lesson to be aware of

BACKGROUND: Patients with aero-digestive malignancy will often require a feeding gastrostomy during their treatment to maintain their nutritional status. These are usually placed percutaneously using an endoscopic technique. CASE PRESENTATION: A fifty-six year old male underwent placement of a percutaneous gastrostomy (PEG) prior to commencement of his treatment for an oral squamous cell carcinoma. The treatment for this was locally curative. However, he developed a metastasis at the site of his PEG tube. This was excised en-bloc with the anterior gastric and abdominal walls. CONCLUSION: Tumour implantation into wounds has been previously reported. In this case the direct trauma of passing the PEG tube through the oropharynx led to implantation of cells in the anterior abdominal wall. In these cases laparoscopic placement may be more beneficial to avoid this problem.