[Clinicopathological study of early simulating gastric cancer--comparison with true early cancer]

Clinicopathological findings of 39 cases of gastric carcinoma invading beyond the proper muscle layer with the lesion macroscopically simulating early cancer (early simulating advanced cancer, group ESAC) were studied together with 182 cases of early carcinoma (group EC). Group ESAC exhibited the depressed type primarily with higher M region incidence than group EC. Histologically, group ESAC presented principally the poorly differentiated type, whereas the well-differentiated type prevaled in group EC. Although presenting higher degrees of lymph node metastasis and vessel invasion, the prognosis of group ESAC was as favorable as that of group EC.