title: Superficially spreading cancer of the stomach.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Superficially spreading cancer (SSC) of the stomach is rare and extends widely along the mucosa or submucosa of the stomach. This study was conducted to clarify the clinicopathologic characteristics and prognosis of patients with SSC.
  
  
  METHODS
  SSC was defined as a tumor invading the mucosa or submucosa and measuring > or =5 cm in size. The clinicopathologic findings and outcomes of 36 patients with SSC were compared with those of 300 patients with early gastric cancer (EGC) measuring < or =5 cm and 271 with advanced gastric cancer measuring > or =5 cm.
  
  
  RESULTS
  SSC was significantly different from ordinary EGC in tumor size, frequency of lymph node metastasis, lymphatic invasion, venous invasion, and stage II, III, and IV disease. The frequency of serosal invasion, lymph node metastasis, and lymphatic and venous invasions in cases of SSC was significantly lower than with advanced gastric cancer. Although tumor size of SSC evaluated before operation was smaller than that on the resected specimen, the 10-year survival rate was not different between SSC and ordinary EGC.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  SSC was characterized by high frequency of lymph node metastasis and preoperative underestimation of tumor size. SSC should be treated by a gastrectomy and lymphadenectomy with sufficient resection margin.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery I, Oita Medical University, Oita, Japan. kyasuda@oita-med.ac.jp
authors.forename: Kazuhiro
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Yasuda
authors.forename: Masafumi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Inomata
authors.forename: Kyuzo
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Fujii
authors.forename: Norio
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Shiraishi
authors.forename: Yosuke
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Adachi
authors.forename: Seigo
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kitano
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D002277:Carcinoma / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology* / Q000556:secondary; D005260:Female; D005753:Gastric Mucosa / Q000473:pathology*; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan / Q000453:epidemiology; D008207:Lymphatic Metastasis; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009361:Neoplasm Invasiveness; D011379:Prognosis; D013274:Stomach Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology*; D015996:Survival Rate