[Immunohistologic detection of pepsin and gastricsin in carcinoma of the stomach].

Immunohistological tests for pepsin and gastricsin were carried out in bioptic samples of 51 patients with carcinoma of the stomach. Pepsin was detected in only 2 cases (4%), gastricsin in 26 patients (55%). Compared to the histological picture, the rate of incidence of gastricsin showed no difference between the intestinal and diffuse types of this tumour. In all examined cases, only gelatinous carcinomas were negative. Nor were any differences found in the cardia, the body or antrum. Surprisingly, these enzymes were found in the cytoplasma of neutrophylic granulocytes in the inflammatory infiltrate of the mucosal and tumorous stroma. Intestinal metaplasia of the epithelium was always negative even in the neighbourhood of positive tumours. The detected changes are evidence against the possibility of different histogenesis of the diffuse and intestinal forms of carcinoma of the stomach as well as against the possibility that intestinal metaplasia in a chronic inlammation of the stomach could be regarded as a direct first stage of the intestinal form of carcinoma of the stomach. In cases of metastases of unknown origin, pepsin and gastricsin cannot serve as markers due to their insufficient organ and cell specificities.