Adenocarcinoma of the Upper Gastrointestinal Tract After Bariatric Surgery. A Review of the Literature.

Abstract

Obesity is associated with an increased risk of cancer development in the upper gastrointestinal tract. One own case of a female patient with gastric carcinoma after sleeve gastrectomy was the reason to review the literature about the frequency and the genesis of gastric carcinoma after bariatric surgery. Additional to our case 3 further patients with gastric carcinoma after sleeve gastrectomy and 33 patients with carcinomas of the upper gastrointestinal tract after other bariatric operations are reported in the literature. Due to a lack of registry studies the incidence of gastric cancer after bariatric surgery cannot be calculated. Early diagnostics should be performed in symptomatic patients and in patients with unspecific symptoms after bariatric surgery to avoid a delay of the diagnosis of potential carcinomas of the upper gastrointestinal tract.