[Correlations between invasion of gastric cancer to serosal layer and other relevant factors]

To study correlations between invasion of stomach cancer to serosal layer and such factors as size and type of tumor, depth of ulcer, gastric wall contraction, etc.

Gastric cancer specimens from 150 patients admitted to the hospital in March 1993 through March 1997 were examined.

The frequency of tumor invasion to the serosa in gastric cancer of Borrmann type I, II, III and IV was 8.3%, 23.4%, 32.9% and 76.2%, respectively. The frequency of serosal involvement was 13.6% in tumors with a diameter < or = 3.0 cm which was significantly less frequent than in tumors with a diameter > 3.0 cm. The frequency of serosal involvement increased with the increase in depth of ulcer and with spastic contraction of gastric wall as observed in pre-operative barium meal examination. That of serosal involvement varied with degree of differentiation of the tumor, being much lower in well- and moderately well-differentiated adenocarcinomas (10.3%) than in poorly differentiated ones (62.8%). The serosa was frequently invaded by mucinous adenocarcinoma (42.9) and signet cell carcinoma (83.3%).

Invasion of gastric cancer to serosal layer correlates, to various extents, with the tumor size and type, status of cell differentiation, and depth of ulcer.