Chinese Medical Journal

Chinese Medical Journal, 74: 62-68, January-February, 1956.

METASTATIC CARCINOMA OF THE HUMERUS FROM THE GASTROINTESTINAL TRACT

Kuo PANG-Fu (i834)

Orthopedic Division of the Department of Surgery, Hung Jen Hospital, Shanghai Second Medical College, Shanghai

While metastatic lesions in the skeleton from carcinomas of the prostate, kidney, thyroid, breast or lung are well-known, the incidence of bone metastasis from carcinomas of the gastrointestinal tract is relatively rare.

Table 1 summarizes the reports of various authors giving the number of cases of carcinomas of the stomach and the rectum and their percentages in relation to the total admission of cases of carcinomas of specific organs.

Table 1. Incidence of bone metastasis from carcinoma of the stomach and the rectum reported by different authors

Cases of bone me- Per- Cases of bone me- PerAuthors tastasis from car- cen- tastasis from car- cencinoma of stomach tage cinoma of rectum tage Miiller, 1892(1) 8 2.58 6 10.52 Sutherland, 1932 (2) 20 1.9 5 = Warren, 1933(3, 4) 4° 5.9 2 2:2) Ghormley, 1939(5) 12 0.2 19 0.5 Geschickter and Copeland 1949(6) 7 1.3 3 0.6 Coley and Higinbotham, ! 1954 (7) 3 3.15, 2 0.88

The usual sites of metastasis are the spine, pelvis, skull and ribs. Metastasis to the humerus is uncommon in carcinomas of the gastrointestinal tract. Weston(8) in his review of the literature stated that Pitts in 1891, Aufses in 1930, Geschickter and Copeland in 1936, Hayden in 1936, and Brown and Warren in 1938 reported altogether 5 cases of metastasis to the humerus, and that his own case was the sixth.

We have encountered 3 cases of metastatic carcinoma of the humerus since 1952. Two of them were from carcinoma of the stomach and 1 from carcinoma of the rectum.