Metastatic mode and DNA ploidy in gastric carcinoma.

We studied the amounts of nuclear DNA in gastric cancer metastases histologically and cytochemically by flow cytometry, which was performed retrospectively on paraffin-embedded specimens from 95 patients. At surgery, all cases of aneuploid cancer were positive for lymph node metastases. Liver metastases were frequently seen in aneuploid cancer (63%, P < 0.01), while lung metastases were the most common in diploid cancer (50%, P < 0.05). The incidence of peritoneal metastasis was high in undifferentiated diploid cancer (72%, P < 0.01). Local lymph node recurrence after surgery was more common in aneuploid than in diploid cancer (P < 0.01). The incidence of bone and distant lymph node metastasis was found to be strongly dependent on tissue differentiation. The DNA ploidy pattern is thus considered to be closely linked to lymph node, liver, and lung metastases in gastric cancer.