Premalignant lesions and synchronous gastric cancer in patients with lung and head and neck cancer

The paper presents the analysis of the frequency of synchronous gastric and esophageal carcinomas in 176 patients with primary respiratory tract cancer, 122 (69.3%) of them with head and neck cancer and 54 (30.7%) with lung cancer. The endoscopic examination revealed synchronous gastric cancer (n=4) and synchronous esophageal cancer (n=1) in 5 (2.8 %) cases (3 with primary lung cancer and 2 with primary laryngeal cancer). These patients received anticancer treatment for synchronous polyneoplasias. Ninety-one (51.7 %) patients had gastric mucosal atrophy, which in 25.7 % of cases was characterized as premalignant lesions: grade I-II dysplasia (20.2%) and grade III dysplasia (5.5%). Considering the data obtained, patients with respiratory tract cancer have an increased risk for developing gastric and esophageal cancer. Endoscopic esophageal and gastric examination using advanced technologies should be included in the algorithm of management of these patients.