Is type III intestinal metaplasia an obligatory precancerous lesion in intestinal-type gastric carcinoma?

This retrospective study was performed to assess whether type III intestinal metaplasia is an obligatory precancerous lesion of intestinal-type gastric carcinoma and to determine its possible use as a marker of enhanced cancer risk. From 48 consecutive patients with gastric cancer who underwent a gastrectomy over a 3-year period (mean age 72.0 years; 29 M/19 F), at least two sections from antrum, corpus and tumour-surrounding mucosa were obtained for the examination of presence and subtypes of intestinal metaplasia (IM). It was found that 77.1% of the carcinomas were of the intestinal type and 22.9% of the diffuse type. The intestinal-type was more often found in males (P = 0.01); the mean age at diagnosis in this type was higher than in the diffuse cancer group (P = 0.004). There was a high prevalence of total IM in both the intestinal (75.7%) and diffuse group (88.9%). Type I IM was predominant in antrum and corpus of patients from both groups. Type III IM was only found among patients with intestinal-type carcinoma. However, its prevalence was rather low (26.3%). Therefore the absence of this lesion in patients with other risk factors cannot be used as an argument for lowering the degree of surveillance and its presence seems to be sufficient indication for long-term follow-up.