Linitis plastica

Linitis plastica (sometimes referred to as leather bottle stomach) is a morphological variant of diffuse stomach cancer in which the stomach wall becomes thick and rigid.

Linitis plastica is a type of adenocarcinoma and accounts for 3–19% of gastric adenocarcinomas. Causes of cancerous linitis plastica are commonly primary gastric cancer, but in rarer cases could be metastatic infiltration of the stomach, particularly breast and lung carcinoma. It is not associated with H. pylori infection or chronic gastritis. The risk factors are undefined, except for rare inherited mutations in E-cadherin. The hereditary form of this cancer, , accounts for only 1–3% of gastric adenocarcinomas. Somatic mutations in this gene are found in about 50% of diffuse-type gastric carcinomas.