Curative resection by splenectomy for solitary splenic metastasis from early gastric cancer: a case report and literature review

BACKGROUND: Solitary metastasis of a malignancy to the spleen is rare, particularly for gastric cancer. Only a few case reports have documented isolated splenic metastasis from early gastric cancer. We describe a case of splenic metastasis from early gastric cancer. CASE PRESENTATION: A 60-year-old man underwent a distal gastrectomy for early gastric cancer. It infiltrated the submucosa with pathological nodal involvement (pT1bN2M0, stage IIB). One year after the gastrectomy, an abdominal computed tomography scan showed a low-density lesion, 17 mm in diameter, at the upper pole of the spleen. Positron emission tomography/computed tomography showed focal accumulation of fluorine-18 fluorodeoxyglucose in the spleen without extrasplenic tumor dissemination or metastasis. We diagnosed splenic metastasis of gastric cancer, and performed a splenectomy. Histological examination confirmed moderately differentiated tubular adenocarcinoma and poorly differentiated adenocarcinoma (solid type) that was consistent with the features of the primary gastric cancer. The splenic tumor was pathologically and immunohistochemically diagnosed as a metastasis from the gastric carcinoma. More than 18 months after the splenectomy, the patient has had no evidence of recurrent gastric cancer. CONCLUSION: When solitary metastasis to the spleen is suspected during the postoperative follow-up of a patient with gastric cancer, a splenectomy is a potentially effective treatment.