[Analysis of early carcinoma of the stomach]

A review was made of 110 cases of early gastric cancer detected in our endoscopy unit over 13 years, confirming an incidence of about 10% with respect to all gastric cancers. On establishing statistical correlations between the diverse parameters studied, it was observed that cases with lymph node metastases should be considered a separate category of early gastric carcinoma as regards prognosis. Likewise, undifferentiated forms tend more to metastasize when located in the submucosa, although they are less invasive than the intestinal type. Finally, submucous location of the tumor clearly predisposes to the occurrence of metastases.