Early gastric cancer.

Thirty-six patients with early gastric cancer were studied. In 15 patients, malignancy was restricted to the mucosa; in 21 patients, submucosal invasion was noted. Lymph node involvement was found in four patients. Kaplan-Meier estimates for 5-year survival were 92 percent for mucosal lesions and 65 percent for submucosal lesions (overall 5-year survival rate 73 percent). Mucosal lesions were significantly larger than were submucosal lesions (3.7 +/- 0.6 cm versus 2.5 +/- 0.4 cm, mean +/- SE; p less than 0.005). Associated malignancy was recorded in 13 of 36 patients. When compared with data from a large Japanese study, early gastric cancer in the United States tends to develop more distally in the stomach and in patients approximately one decade older. Survival was not as favorable as in Japan. This may be related to patient age and the high incidence of associated nongastric malignancy.