Prognostic study of intramucosal carcinoma of the stomach with DNA aneuploidy.

Cell nuclear DNA content was microspectophotometrically measured in 70 patients with a gastric carcinoma lesion of less than 4.0 cm in diameter and with mucosal or minimal submucosal invasion. Two groups were prepared; low ploidy and high ploidy, according to the degree of dispersion on the DNA histogram. Twenty-four cases of high ploidy were reviewed from the aspects of clinicopathology and prognosis and the findings compared with data on 46 of low ploidy. The high ploidy group was characterized by an elevated lesion and a differentiated carcinoma while the low ploidy group had a depressed lesion and an undifferentiated carcinoma Postoperative recurrence was confirmed in none of the low ploidy cases and 2/24 of the high ploidy cases. The five and ten-year survival rates of the patients with high ploidy were 100 per cent and 91.1 per cent, respectively. Compared to the findings that patients with submucosal carcinoma of high ploidy survived at a rate of only 64.8 per cent in the 5-year follow-up, efforts should be directed toward a higher detection of gastric carcinoma with aneuploidy at the stage limited to within the intramucosal layer. Endoscopic treatment for early gastric carcinoma is not recommended, especially for a differentiated carcinoma, even if the invasion is confined to the mucosa, since it may include aneuploid carcinoma.