Is type III intestinal metaplasia an obligatory precancerous lesion in intestinal-type gastric carcinoma?
This retrospective study was performed to assess whether type III intestinal metaplasia is an obligatory precancerous lesion of intestinal-type gastric carcinoma and to determine its possible use as a marker of enhanced cancer risk. From 48 consecutive patients with gastric cancer who underwent a gastrectomy over a 3-year period (mean age 72.0 years; 29 M/19 F), at least two sections from antrum, corpus and tumour-surrounding mucosa were obtained for the examination of presence and subtypes of intestinal metaplasia (IM). It was found that 77.1% of the carcinomas were of the intestinal type and 22.9% of the diffuse type. The intestinal-type was more often found in males (P = 0.01); the mean age at diagnosis in this type was higher than in the diffuse cancer group (P = 0.004). There was a high prevalence of total IM in both the intestinal (75.7%) and diffuse group (88.9%). Type I IM was predominant in antrum and corpus of patients from both groups. Type III IM was only found among patien
