Severe Eosinophilia in Disseminated Gastric Carcinoma

SCB Teoh, WY Siow, HT Tan
Correspondence: Dr S C B Teoh

ABSTRACT
Peripheral blood eosinophilia is a well-recognised but unusual manifestation of malignancy, and may represent a paraneoplastic phenomenon. We present a case of poorly differentiated adenocarcinoma of the stomach associated with severe peripheral blood eosinophilia A 55-year old man was admitted for abdominal pain of one week duration. An incidental finding of leucocytosis with eosinophilia was noted. After excluding haematological and infectious causes, an oesophagogastroduodenoscopy (OGD) followed by biopsy confirmed the diagnosis. Eosinophilia appears to be a response to cytokine production,and treatment is aimed at the underlying malignancy, and reducing the eosinophil count when necessary, to prevent end-organ damage. Studies have shown that peripheral eosinophilia is associated with disseminated, metastatic disease and hence signifies a poor prognosis,whereas tissue eosinophilia in advanced cancer has a better survival rate.

Keywords: Peripheral eosinophilia, gastric carcinoma, metastatic disease, poor prognosis
Singapore Med J 2000; 41(5): 232-234