Histochemical studies on intestinal metaplasia adjacent to gastric cardia adenocarcinoma in subjects at high-incidence area in Henan, north China.

AIM: To characterize the histochemical type and pattern of intestinal metaplasia (IM) adjacent to gastric cardia adenocarcinoma (GCA) and distal gastric cancer (GC) in Linzhou, Henan Province, China.

METHODS

Alcian-blue-periodic acid Schiff and high iron diamine-Alcian blue histochemical methods were performed on 142 cases of IM, including 49 cases of GCA and 93 cases of GC. All the patients were from Linzhou, Henan Province, China, the highest incidence area for both GCA and squamous cell carcinoma. Radio- or chemotherapy was not applied to these patients before surgery.

RESULTS

The detection rate of IM in tissues adjacent to GCA tissues was 44.9%, which was significantly lower than that in GC tissues (80.64%, P<0.01). The rates of both incomplete small intestinal and colonic IM types identified by histochemistry in GCA tissues (31.82% and 63.64%, respectively) were significantly higher than those in GC (5.33% and 21.33%, respectively, P<0.01).

CONCLUSION

IM in GCA and GC should be considered as a separate entity. Further research is needed to evaluate whether neoplastic progression of IM is related to its mucin profile in GCA.