[Signet ring cancer of the stomach: clinico-morphological features, postsurgical results and prognosis]

Clinico-morphological features of signet ring cancer of the stomach were evaluated in 372 out of 2,308 gastric cancer patients undergoing gastroectomy or stomach resection. Signet ring tumor pathology occurs mostly in young females and younger patients generally. It features high incidence of early cancers, low frequency of metastatic spreading to lymph nodes (T1-T2), high frequency of immediate involvement of perigastric fatty tissues, peritoneum and ovaries and infrequent spreading to the liver. Post-surgical survival rates among patients with T1-T2 were relatively high, yet declining in cases of extension through the serous membrane of the stomach. D2-lymphdissection failure to improve the end-results of surgical treatment of signet ring cancer might be accounted for by the predominance of peritoneal metastases of this morphological pattern. Histochemical assay of mucines might be contribute additional data on prognosis.