Surgical results of scirrhous carcinoma of the stomach

: Type IV of Borrmann's classification is divided into subtypes IVa and IVb on the basis of gross characteristics of the mucosal surface of surgical specimens. Subtype IVa indicates the presence of slight elevation or depression; subtype IVb includes the rest of type IV. The five-year survival rate for patients who had undergone curative gastrectomy was 36.4% for subtype IVa and 15.0% for subtype IVb. The difference in these rates was statistically significant. No significant differences between subtypes IVa and IVb were found, however, with respect to serosal invasion, lymph node metastasis, tumor size, or age or sex distribution. Other clinical and biological factors must therefore be considered to explain these differences in survival rate. The five-year survival rate was 14.3% in patients with scirrhous carcinoma of subtype IVb, and 84.8% in those with scirrhous carcinoma simulating early carcinoma.