Peptic ulcer and cancer: an examination of the relationship between chronic peptic ulcer and gastric carcinoma.

The relationship between peptic ulceration and gastric carcinoma has been examined using data from two large autopsy surveys. The first consisted of over 13,000 autopsies performed in a single hospital over a 20-year period and analysed retrospectively; the second was a prospective series of over 7000 autopsies carried out at 17 centres during a single year. In both, a lower than expected occurrence of coexistent gastric cancer was found in subjects with pathologic evidence of active or past gastric and duodenal ulceration. A statistical association between chronic gastric ulcer and lung cancer was noted. This study has failed to identify an increased risk of gastric carcinoma in patients with chronic gastric ulcer.