Gastric carcinoma: An entity, unitary or divisible

Abstract

Of 86 cases a retrospective analysis was made for anatomic location, gross appearance, microscopic features, age and sex distribution and correlation between these respective findings. The tumor in 60% of the cases arose in the pyloric antrum and had an ulcerating appearance. Following Lauren's criteria a histologic division into 'intestinal' and 'diffuse' types was made in 95% of the cases. The 'intestinal' type was twice more frequent than the 'diffuse' type and the ratio (I/D ratio) appeared to increase with age and was higher in men than women. There was no definite correlation between the gross presentation and the microscopic types, except that linitis plastica was more often a 'diffuse' type than the 'intestinal' type. It would appear that there are grounds to separate gastric carcinoma into these 2 divisible microscopic types. A follow-up study is essential to establish their prognostic significance.