Abstract
We have recently experienced two patients with gastric cancer forming a tumor embolus in the extrahepatic portal vein. Case 1. A 66-year-old man was referred to our hospital because of gastric cancer with liver metastasis. He had an elevated alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) level. At the operation, a tumor embolus was seen from the left gastric vein to the portal vein, and it was resected with the portal vein. Post-operative immunohistochemical study revealed that AFP was produced by the gastric carcinoma. Case 2. A 50-year-old man who had been suffering from upper abdominal pain and severe anemia was admitted for surgery. Preoperative abdominal CT and angiography indicated a tumor embolus from the superior mesenteric vein to the portal vein. Total gastrectomy was carried out, but the tumor embolus could not be completely removed.
