Histology of gastric carcinoma occurring after gastric surgery for benign conditions

Abstract

Eighty-four gastric cancers in patients who had previously been subjected to gastric surgery for benign conditions were histologically classified according to Lauren's method and compared to gastric cancers in patients with no previous gastric surgery. Apart from the absence of sarcomas among the patients previously operated on, there was little difference in the distribution of histologic types among patients previously operated on and not operated on. However, in males previously operated on, the proportion of intestinal-type tumors did not show the expected increase with age. Nor did we observe the increase in intestinal-to-diffuse ratio that might have been expected from the location of the tumors and from the association between duodenal ulcer and blood groups and between blood groups and tumor histology. It is concluded that intestinal and diffuse types of gastric carcinoma both increase in frequency after gastric surgery, but the increase appears to be larger for the diffuse type. Intestinal metaplasia and gastritis were no more prominent in sections from the primary resectates from 16 patients who later developed gastric cancer than in controls. Infiltration of leukocytes was more prominent in carcinomas found in postoperative patients than in Carcinomas found in patients not previously operated on.