[Early oncological pathology of the stomach]

The paper reports the results of a study of 586 gastrobioptical and cytological preparations obtained in the course of endoscopic examination of 223 patients with gastritis, polyps and gastric ulcers and resected material from 46 patients who had small-size malignant tumors of the stomach (up to 1 cm in dia). Gastrobiopsy revealed dysplasia-like changes in the epithelium in 33% of cases of chronic gastric diseases. Dysplasia in the mucosa surrounding tumor was identified in all cancer patients. Three degrees of dysplasia of gland epithelium--mild, moderate and severe--were distinguished, each allowing further division into two classes. It is suggested that patients with dysplasia of gastric mucosa epithelium, identified by gastrobiopsy, should be referred to a group at high risk and followed up closely.