Pathological findings of gastric mucosa in patients with gastric remnant cancer.

BACKGROUND/AIMS: The mechanism of remnant gastric cancer development has not yet been well established. In this study, we compared the background gastric mucosa of remnant gastric cancer with that of upper lesion-restricted gastric cancer to determine the difference in the pathogenesis of naive gastric cancer and remnant gastric cancer. METHODOLOGY: Twenty-five patients with gastric remnant cancer after distal gastrectomy and a control group of 29 patients with naive gastric cancer restricted to the upper part of the stomach who underwent gastrectomy were enrolled in this study. We evaluated the gastric mucosa adjacent to cancerous tissues using the updated Sydney score system. RESULTS: The surrounding gastric mucosa in the remnant gastric cancer group was significantly less atrophic than that of the group with gastric cancer restricted to the upper part of the stomach. In remnant gastric cancer, patients who underwent Billroth II (B-II) reconstruction at first gastrectomy developed cancer at the anastomotic site more frequently than those with Billroth I (B-I) reconstruction. CONCLUSIONS: The surrounding gastric mucosa was significantly less atrophic in remnant gastric cancer than naive gastric cancer, which indicates that remnant gastric cancer might possess a different pathogenesis.