[Electron microscopic structure of stomach cancer]

Parallel histological and electron microscopy studies of 18 gastric cancers have demonstrated that the Lauren classification may be reproduced at ultrastructural level, which allow the type of carcinoma to be identified even in microscopically obscure cases. Intestinal type of cancer is characterized by marked intercellular connections, a brushy margin from enteroid microvilli and the cell cytoplasm rich in polyribosomes. A diffuse type is characterized by detached cells and the presence of mucoid secretion granules in them. The cells per se are similar to mucoid epithelium of gastric glands. Detection of tumor cells showing the signs of both enterocytes and mucoid epithelium of the stomach as well as the elements differentiating toward basic cells speaks in favour of histogenetic affinity of separate types of gastric cancer.