Stromal reaction around tumor and metastasis and prognosis after curative gastrectomy for carcinoma of the stomach

Abstract

The prognosis of 270 cases with carcinoma of the stomach after curative gastrectomy was studied by histologic examination of the resected specimen. In cases without metastases, when there were both fibrous and cellular stromal reaction in the main tumor, the 5-year survival rate was 100% and, when the reaction was negative, the prognosis was 30%. If, however, there was no stromal reaction in the metastases, the prognosis was as miserable as 7.0%, with or without reaction in the main tumor. The authors conclude that stromal reaction around the carcinoma dominates the prognosis and that the prognosis can be estimated with further accuracy after analysis of the reaction in metastatic nodes.