REPORT OF A CASE OF MALIGNANT TUMOR-LIKE GASTRIC LESION BY CANDIDA IN A DIABETIC TREATED WITH CYCLOSPORINE FOR PSORIASIS AND REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE

Abstract

Mycotic infection of the alimentary canal are rare and usually involve the upper digestive tract. Mycetes, especially of Candida family, are habitual saprophytes in the digestive tract of healthy individuals. Under certain conditions, fungal flora may overgrowth, resulting in lesions of the digestive mucosa, which, rarely, might evolve to local diffusion and/or systemic lympho-hematogenous spreading. In the stomach, sometimes, mycotic infections may appear like benign gastric ulcers. we described a case of woman, aged 64, affected by psoriasis, in chronic treatment with cyclosporine and type 2 diabetes mellitus, a well-known immunosoppressive condition, with endoscopic evidence of ulcerated vegetating gastric lesion, strongly suggestive for malignancy, due to Candida albicans infection, and completely healed after cyclosporine withdrawal and administration of oral antifungal drugs.