We compared the results of curative resection for carcinoma of the stomach in 254 patients who underwent simple resection (SR) and 454 patients who underwent extensive regional lymph node dissection (ELD). The 5‐year survival rates of the 2 procedures were significantly different in carcinoma involving the serosa of the stomach; it was 45% in the ELD group and 18% in the SR group (p<0.001). In patients with regional lymph node metastasis we obtained a 5‐year survival rates of 39% and 18% by ELD and SR, respectively (p<0.001). The incidence of metastasis to the secondary lymph nodes, removable only by ELD, was higher in cases with carcinomatous invasion of the deeper layers of the gastric wall, and this may have been the reason why ELD proved to be more effective than SR. ELD is discussed in relation to the site of the primary carcinoma and the extent of lymph node metastasis.

One hundred and sixty‐seven cases of early gastric cancer were analyzed in terms of growth patterns and were then classified into the Small mucosal type, the superficially spreading (Super) type and the penetrating growth (Pen) type, the latter further subdivided into the Pen A type growing expansively and the Pen B type deepening infiltratively. The Small mucosal, Super, and Pen B types are characterized by a tendency toward dominant depressed lesions, a low incidence of vessel invasion and lymph node metastasis, and a good prognosis after surgery (about 90% of the patients survived for ten years). In contrast, the Pen A type is characterized by dominant elevated lesions usually comprised of well differentiated carcinoma, a relatively high incidence of vessel invasion and lymph node metastasis and a poor prognosis after surgery (64.8% five‐year survival), due to early recurrence in the form of liver metastasis. Some attention is given to the related surgical approaches.

The clinical and pathologic characteristics of the gastric carcinomas in the young adults were described in special comparison with the carcinomas in the old men. They were found to be similar in many respects, but had some different features like the histologic findings with particular references to the histogenetic background.

A case of apocrine adenocarcinoma arising in the bilateral axillae is reported. The patient was an 88 year old Japanese male who complained of a mass lesion and puslike discharge in the right axilla. Another mass was also noticed in the left axilla. No other neoplastic lesion was found in other sites of the body. The histologic appearances of the bilateral axillary tumors were almost identical. Both were adenocarcinoma with varying degrees of differentiation, composed of glands and nests of atypical epithelial cells with abundant eosinophilic cytoplasm. Some neoplastic cells exhibited cytoplasmic projections on their apical surface. Foci of in situ carcinoma were observed within the neoplastic tissue in the bilateral axillae. The neoplastic cells were immunohistochemically positive for epithelial membrane antigen (EMA) and gross cystic disease fluid protein (GCDFP‐15), but negative for carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA). On the basis of their histologic and immunohistochemical features and distinctive location, the tumors were diagnosed as apocrine adenocarcinoma. Acta Pathol Jpn 41: 927‐932, 1991.

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