Early gastric cancer in Italy. Clinical and pathological observations on 80 cases.

Of 542 gastric cancer patients operated in the period between 1976 and 1982, we found early gastric cancer (EGC) in 80 cases (15.3%). Patients with EGC did not show specific symptoms if compared with patients affected by gastric or duodenal peptic ulcer, gallstones, functional disorders of the upper gastrointestinal tract, or advanced gastric cancer (AGC). Single-contrast radiology showed a low sensitivity, especially in the depressed lesions. In contrast, endoscopy alone diagnosed 64 EGCs (80.0%) as malignant lesions. The five-year overall survival rate of the EGC patients was 85.9% and that of AGC patients was 43.8%. From a pathological point of view, our results confirm the usefulness of the studies on EGC for the comprehension of gastric carcinogenesis. The clinical relevance of EGC is linked to the good prognosis; however, the absence of clear symptoms and lack of alternative diagnostic methods to the endoscopy cast some doubts on the feasibility of mass detection programs.