NEW ELEMENTS FOR AN UPDATED CLASSIFICATION OF THE CARCINOMAS OF THE STOMACH

Based upon the results of a thorough study of 213 patients submitted to potentially curative resection we propose the following histologic classification of gastric carcinoma: isolated-cell carcinoma (6.6%), glandular carcinoma (41.8%), solid carcinoma (13.1%) and mixed carcinoma (38.5%). Half of the mixed carcinomas displayed a predominant isolated-cell pattern, whereas in the other half the isolated-cells were a minor component (the predominant component being either glandular, solid, or both). The survival of patients with mixed carcinomas is significantly worse than those of patients with other histologic types of gastric carcinoma regardless of the site of tumors and the inclusion, or not, in the series, of post-operative deaths. The proposed classification keeps its independent prognostic significance in a multifactorial analysis, appearing as the second most important prognostic factor in patients with gastric carcinomas, after the TNM staging and before venous invasion.