Total nitrogen in the gastric juice of patients with cancer and peptic ulcer of the stomach. A comparison of volume rate, total HC1, and chloride.

Total nitrogen, volume rate, total HCl and chloride were determined in the gastric juice of 12 patients with gastric cancer and of 17 patients with a clinical diagnosis of peptic gastric ulcer, before and after subcutaneous injection of large doses of histamine. The mean concentration of total nitrogen in the gastric juice of the patients with gastric cancer was significantly higher than in those with gastric ulcer, whereas no significant differences were found between the corresponding mean values of volume rates and concentrations and outputs of total HCl and chloride in the gastric juice of these groups of patients. It is suggested that estimation of total nitrogen concentration in the gastric juice may differentiate between cancer and peptic gastric ulcer of the stomach with a higher degree of certainty than estimation of volume rate, total HCl, or chloride.