Evaluation of the cytological examination in mass survey of gastric cancer.

The significance of the cytological examination in the diagnosis of gastric cancer, especially in the detection of the early cancer of the stomach, was examined in 1200 cases subjected to the cytological examination in the mass survey, including 181 cases with early cancer of the stomach, 148 cases with advanced cancer of the stomach. Comparison of the detection rates of cancer in cases of surgically confirmed stomach cancer revealed that cytological examination is more reliable than endoscopic and X-ray examinations of the stomach. In only a few instances, the false negative and false positive diagnoses were made, and therefore it is important for correct diagnoses to correlate the cytological finding with the other findings. The importance of cytological examination was clearly indicated by examination of the annual detection rate of early cancer, which showed a sudden increase after the period of the introduction of the cytological method in mass survey.