Early gastric cancer and lymph node metastasis.

A total of 1,845 cases of gastric cancer have been resected in our hospital during the past 18 years. Of these, 764 cases (41.5%) were early gastric cancer. The rate of lymph node metastasis was 2% in early mucosal cancer and 19.4% in early submucosal cancer (p < 0.001). In the cases of early mucosal cancer, the rate of lymph node metastasis was 0.9% for the elevated type and 2.4% for the depressed type. In the cases of early submucosal cancer, the rate of lymph node metastasis was 25.3% for the elevated type and 17.3% for the depressed type. In the mucosal cancers the rate of lymph node metastasis was high in the 0-IIc and IIc + III macroscopic type, and in the poorly differentiated microscopic type. In the submucosal cancers the rate of lymph node metastasis was 40% in mucinous adenocarcinoma and 33% in papillary adenocarcinoma. There was no lymph node metastasis in any case of early gastric cancer smaller than 1 cm surface diameter.