[Intragastral nitrosation - cancer risk in the operated stomach (author's transl)]

The concentration of nitrite and N-nitroso compounds was examined in the fasting gastric juice of 44 patients with regard to the known cancer risk to the operated stomach. All patients had surgery for therapy of an ulcer disease. The operation had taken place an average of 2.5 years previously. Enlisted as a control group were 26 age-matched individuals with healthy stomachs. The concentration of nitrite and N-nitroso compounds in the gastric juice of the vagotomized patiens (PGV) did not differ from that of the controls. On the other hand, a significant increase of the nitrite concentration was found in the gastric juice of those patients resected according to the Billroth I or II procedures. The fraction of N-nitroso compounds, however, was significantly elevated in relation to the other gastric juice samples only in the Billroth II resected stomach. The importance of the increase of nitrite and N-nitroso compounds to the cancer risk inherent in the gastric stump is the subject of discussion.