Prophylactic laparoscopic gastrectomy for hereditary diffuse gastric cancer: a case series in a single family.

Background: Hereditary diffuse gastric carcinomas (HDGCs) are particularly troubling because of autosomal dominant heritance, high penetrance, early age of onset, and a lack of effective treatment once symptomatic. HDGC is further complicated by difficulty of effective screening. Gastrectomy provides definitive treatment for CDH1 mutation-positive patients.