MALIGNANT TUMOR-LIKE GAASTRIC LESION DUE TO CANDIDA ALBICANS IN A DIABETIC PATIENT TREATED WITH CYCLOSPORIN: A CASE REPORT AND REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE

The gastrointestinal tract of healthy individuals is colonized by hundreds of saprophytes and mycetes, especially in the candida species, are habitual ones. Under certain conditions, the fungal flora may overgrow, resulting in lesion of the digestive mucosa which rarely, can have a local diffusion and/or spread to the lympho-hematogenous system. Mycotic infections of the stomach can sometimes look like benign gastric ulcers. here, we present the case report of a woman, aged 64, who presented with type II diabetes mellitus and psoriasis, on chronic treatment with cyclosporin A and with endoscopic evidence of an ulcerated, vegetating gastric lesion secondary to Candida Albicans infection. Although strongly sugestive of malignancy, it completely healed after cyclosporin withdrawal and the administration of oral antifungal drugs.