Value of biopsy and brush cytology in the diagnosis of gastric cancer. Shanghai Gastrointestinal Endoscopy Cooperative Group, People's Republic of China.

This report presents the diagnostic value of brush cytology in gastric cancer. Gastric biopsies and brush cytology were performed in 155 patients with gastric cancer and 48 with benign gastric disease. The positive rate for biopsy and brush cytology in cancer patients (including 11 cases of early gastric cancer) was 74.2% and 76.8% respectively. The positive rate of biopsy with concomitant brush cytology was 87.7, which was superior to that of biopsy or brush cytology alone (p less than 0.01). In 29 cases of gastric cancer involving the cardiac region. 20 were biopsy positive (69%) and 22 were brush cytology positive (75.9%). Biopsy with brush cytology was positive in 27 cases (93.1%) and gave better results than biopsy alone (p less than 0.01). The positive rate of biopsy with concomitant brush cytology in Borrmann type I, II, and III lesions (89.7%) was significantly higher than in Borrmann type IV lesions (50%). In the 48 patients with benign gastric lesion, biopsy and brush cytology each provided two false positives. The study shows that the combination of biopsy and brush cytology increases diagnostic accuracy for gastric cancer.