This section is from the book "Cancer And Other Tumours Of The Stomach", by Samuel Fenwick. Also available from Amazon: Cancer and other tumours of the stomach.
As the liver is especially liable to secondary growths, it was necessary to select only those cases in which its structure was normal in appearance. The average weight of the viscus in the males was 56 oz., and in the females 42 oz., and since its normal weight in the male varies from 50 to 69 oz., it is evident that the liver, unlike most of the other tissues of the body, undergoes little diminution in bulk during the course of gastric carcinoma. This anomaly is due partly to the engorgement of the portal system which accompanies a new growth in the stomach, and partly to the fatty infiltration of the hepatic structures which ensues in the majority of the cases. It is also possible that the constant absorption of deleterious substances resulting from disorganisation of the tumour acts as a stimulant to the hepatic cells. In support of this view it may be mentioned that the average weight of the liver was 55 oz. in our cases of pyloric stenosis, but that it amounted to 61 oz. when the body of the stomach was the seat of a soft and rapidly growing tumour. It is interesting to notice that only in one instance out of 265 cases (0.3 per cent.) was the organ affected with alcoholic cirrhosis.
 
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