A comparison of patterns of metastasis in gastric cancer by histologic type and age.

Patterns of metastasis were examined in 173 autopsy cases of gastric cancer in which the primary tumor had not been resected and the death was mainly caused by growth and metastasis of the cancer. The results were compared by different histologic types as well as different age groups. From the histologic viewpoint, gastric cancer of glandular type showed preferential metastasis to the liver, whereas the nonglandular type showed a preference for peritoneal involvement and lymph node metastasis. With regard to age, peritoneal involvement was more frequently observed in younger patients for both glandular and nonglandular types. Younger patients also had a higher incidence of lymph node metastasis of gastric cancer of nonglandular type, but not for the glandular type. Regarding liver metastasis, there was no difference in incidence between different age groups.