On the occurrence of carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) in different types of intestinal metaplasia of the human stomach.

The occurrence and localization of CEA in mucosa of 15 gastric specimens removed because of adenocarcinoma and 12 gastric specimens removed because of benign ulcer were investigated. CEA occurred in nearly all foci of intestinal metaplasia of the "colonic type" characterized by the secretion of O-acetylated sialo-mucins. In intestinal metaplasia characterized by secretion of sulphomucin a few foci contained CEA. "Small intestinal type" metaplasia, characterized by secretion of non-sulphated acid mucins, and normal gastric epithelium did not contain CEA. These findings may explain some of the discrepancies of earlier published work on the CEA content of intestinal metaplasia. The correlation between CEA and intestinal metaplasia of the "colonic type", known to be associated with gastric adenocarcinoma, may identify a special type of intestinal metaplasia which could be important in the histogenesis of certain types of gastric carcinoma.