Poorly differentiated, solid-type adenocarcinoma of the stomach

Data of 58 cases of poorly differentiated, solid-type adenocarcinoma of the stomach treated at our hospital between 1985 and 1995 were reviewed and compared to data of 146 cases of non-solid-type carcinoma in order to determine whether there are distinguishable clinicopathological features between these two types of carcinoma. Significant differences were observed with respect to tumor size, stage, macroscopic appearance, depth of invasion, histologic growth pattern, lymph node metastasis, microscopical lymphatic invasion and vascular permeation. Patients in the solid-type cancer group tended to have smaller tumors; the disease was in the early stage in 48% of the patients, and total gastrectomy was performed in only 20 of the 58 patients. Nodal involvement, lymphatic invasion and vascular permeation were also less common in patients with solid-type cancer. The overall survival rate of patients with solid-type carcinoma was higher than that of patients with non-solid-type carcinoma, though no significant differences were observed when corrected for stage. Our results suggest that poorly differentiated solid-type carcinoma of the stomach should be regarded as a distinct type of adenocarcinoma that has a good prognosis. The significant prognostic factors for this type of gastric cancer are lymphatic invasion and tumor location.