Signet ring cell carcinoma of the stomach.

Between 1965 and 1985, 51 of 1500 patients (3.4%) with gastric cancer who had gastric resection had signet ring cell gastric cancer. Patients with this form of cancer tended to be younger and female; the tumors were smaller and involved the stomach body, serosal invasion was less prominent, and lymph node metastases were less likely to be present. Early mucosal and submucosal cancer was present in 54.9% of the patients with the signet ring cell and in 24.6% with other types of gastric cancer. In 15.7% of patients with signet ring cell cancer, a noncurative resection was performed. The 5-year survival rate was 74.5% for patients with signet ring cell cancer and 52.4% for those with other types of gastric cancer (P less than 0.01). In patients with signet ring cell gastric cancer, the lesion is less extensive; thus, these patients probably can expect a longer survival time.