[Epithelial dysplasia and cancer of the stomach].

Relationships between chronic gastric diseases and gastric cancer are discussed. Mucosal epithelial dysplasia may be regarded as the most reliable sign of increased risk of gastric cancer. Endoscopy with biopsy is the principal method for the assessment of the dysplasia-cancer relationship. A retrospective study of histologic preparations and smear imprints from gastric biopsy specimens and operative samples, obtained from 292 patients with chronic gastritis, gastric ulcers, gastric polyps and polyposis, and conditions following gastric resection for nontumorous diseases and cancer (group 1) and 80 patients with verified gastric cancer (group 2), is reported. In both groups, there was mucosal dysplasia of varying markedness. Endoscopic monitoring revealed gastric cancer in 48 first-group patients. Gastric cancer, combined with dysplasia, was detected in 128 patients from both groups, its early stages, in 37 of those. Convincing evidence in favor of a relationship between dysplasia and cancer is presented.