Development of gastric cancer with special reference to growth and DNA content. Slow and rapid growing types

We treated two patients with gastric cancer for whom surgery was delayed and the natural course of the tumor could be observed pre and postoperatively. A 70-year-old man with a well differentiated adenocarcinoma in the upper portion of the stomach underwent resection 6 years after the clinical diagnosis. Despite extension upwards towards the lower esophagus during a 6-year period, the tumor could be resected. In a poorly differentiated adenocarcinoma in the lower third of the stomach in a 40-year-old woman, the primary lesion was not distinct on the upper GI series done 6 months before, while at the time of laparotomy, disseminating metastases and pancreas invasion made it impossible to resect the stomach together with the tumor. The tumor in the man had a low DNA ploidy, while the lesion in the woman was characterized by a high ploidy. These findings show the distinct difference in the biological behavior of the tumor in these two patients. The possible correlation between DNA content with speed of growth warrants further attention.