Changing Aspects of Gastric Adenocarcinoma

Abstract

To the Editor: Against the background of a declining incidence in gastric carcinoma in the United States over the past 50 years, we wish to draw attention to recently recognized changes in epidemiologic aspects of cases of gastric cancer in our hospitals. When consecutive cases from 1938 to 1942 were compared with those from 1975 to 1978, we discovered that the ratio of male to female patients had decreased from 2:1 in the earlier series to 1:1 in the recent cases. Also, carcinomas composed predominantly (50 per cent or more) or exclusively of signet-ring cells increased from 9 per cent . . .