Ossification in cancer of the stomach: an experimental study.

In rats with Nitrosoguanidine induced carcinomas of the gastric stump, heterotopic ossifications are found freqently. The following stages of differentiation during the desmal ossification in the stump carcinomas are demonstrated: 1. Osteoblasts, 2. Osteoid, 3. Woven bone, 4. Lamellar bone. --The islands of metaplastic bone cells are predominantly located in the invasive marginal zone of the carcinoma of the gastric stump. The histology of the heterotopic ossification in the gastric stump of the rat is similar to that one seen in stomach cancer of men. The model here described seems to be suitable for further study of metaplastic bone formation in the gastrointestinal tract.