Summary
In order to study the progression of signet ring cell carcinomas in the human stomach, we compared cell proliferation and differentiation between small and large intramucosal cancers, and between intramucosal and advanced cancers. Fine-structurally, signet ring cells were differentiated to 3 cell types: a foveolar, a glandular and an intestinal type. In the mucosa, the foveolar-type cells and glandular-type cells were distributed at the superficial and the deep zone, respectively. In the small mucosal cancers, intestinal-type cells were rare and a layered structure was often seen. In this structure, the mode of cell production resembled that in the normal gastric mucosa; the foveolar-type signet ring cells in the superficial layer were not proliferative and the proliferating cells were small cells in the middle layer and a few glandular-type cells in the deep layer. In the large mucosal and advanced cancers, intestinal-type cells and proliferating small round cells were often distributed throughout the depth of the mucosa, and signet ring cells of the foveolar type were also proliferative. These findings indicated that large part of the signet ring cell carcinomas initially form the layered structure and that it becomes indistinct while intestinal-type cells appear as the tumour grows. However, we found several small advanced cancers, lacking both the layered structure and the intestinal-type cells. These cancers appear to start without the layered structure and progress very rapidly.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Fabricant JI, Wisseman CL, Vitak M (1969) The kinetics of cellular proliferation in normal and malignant tissues. Radiology 92:1309–1320
Fujita S (1983) The microcomputer-based color image analyzer and its application to histochemistry. J Histochem Cytochem 31:238–240
Goldman H, Ming SC (1968) Fine structure of intestinal metaplasia and adenocarcinoma of the human stomach. Lab Invest 18:203–210
Hattori T, Fujita S (1976) Tritiated thymidine autoradiographic study on cellular migration in the gastric gland of the golden hamster. Cell Tiss Res 172:171–184
Hattori T, Hosokawa Y, Fukuda M, Sugihara H, Hamada S, Takamatsu T, Nakanishi K, Tsuchihashi Y, Kitamura T, Fujita S (1984) Analysis of DNA ploidy patterns of gastric carcinomas of Japanese. Cancer 54:1591–1597
Hattori T, Sugihara H, Fukuda M, Hamada S, Fujita S (1986) DNA ploidy patterns of minute carcinomas in the stomach. Jpn J Cancer Res 77:276–281
Imai Y, Sue A, Yamada A (1968) A removing method of the resin from epoxy-embedded sections for light microscopy. J Electronmicrosc 17:84–85
Katsuyama T, Spicer SS (1978) Histochemical differentiation of complex carbohydrates with variants of the concanavalin A-horseradish peroxidase method. J Histochem Cytochem 26:233–250
Katsuyama T, Ono K, Nakayama J, Kanai M (1985) Recent advances in mucosubstance histochemistry. In: Kawai K (ed) Gastric mucus and mucus secreting cells. 3–18 Excerpta Medica, Tokyo
Kodama Y, Inokuchi K, Soejima K, Matsusaka T, Okamura T (1983) Growth patterns and prognosis in early gastric carcinoma. Superficial spreading and penetrating growth types. Cancer 51:320–326
Lauren P (1965) The two histological main types of gastric carcinoma: diffuse and so-called intestinal type carcinoma. Acta Pathol Microbilol Scand 64:31–49
Lillibridge CB (1964) The fine structure of normal human gastric mucosa. Gastroenterology 47:269–290
Mason MK (1965) Surface carcinoma of the stomach. Gut 6:185–193
Ming SC (1977) Gastric carcinoma — A pathological classification. Cancer 39:2475–2485
Myhre E (1953) Superficial spreading type of carcinoma of the stomach. Acta Chir Scand 106:392–398
Nevalainen TJ, Jarvi OH (1976) Intracellular cysts in gastric carcinoma. Acta Pathol Microbiol Scand Sec A 84:517–522
Nevalainen TJ, Jarvi OH (1977) Ultrastructure of intestinal and diffuse gastric carcinoma. J Pathol 122:129–136
Oota K, Sobin LH (1977) Histological typing of gastric and esophageal tumours. World Health Organization, Geneva
Pierce BG, Wallace C (1971) Differentiation of malignant to benign cells. Cancer Res 31:127–134
Rubin W, Ross LL, Sleisenger MH, Jefferies GH (1968) The normal human gastric epithelia — A fine structural study. Lab Invest 19:598–626
Sasano N, Nakamura K, Arai M, Akazaki K (1969) Ultrastructural cell patterns in human gastric carcinoma compared with non-neoplastic gastric mucosa — Histogenetic analysis of carcinoma by mucin histochemistry. J Natl Cancer Inst 43:783–802
Steel GG, Bensted JPM (1965) In vitro studies of cell proliferation in tumours — I Critical appraisal of methods and theoretical considerations. Eur J Cancer 1:275–279
Stout AP (1942) Superficial spreading type of carcinoma of the stomach. Arch Surg 44:651–657
Sugano H, Nakamura K, Kato Y (1984) Pathological studies of human gastric cancer. Acta Pathol Jpn 32 (Suppl. 2):329–347
Sugihara H, Tsuchihashi Y, Hattori T, Fukuda M, Fujita S (1985) Cell proliferation and cell loss in intramucosal signet ring cell carcinoma of canine stomachs induced by N-ethyl-N′-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine. J Cancer Res Clin Oncol 100:87–94
Taki K, Kuwabara N (1981) Studies on histogenesis of the gastric carcinoma using minute cancers. Pathol Res Pract 172:176–190
Tatematsu M, Katsuyama T, Furihata C, Tsuda H, Ito N (1984) Stable intestinal phenotypic expression of gastric and small intestinal tumor cells induced by N-methyl-N′-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine or methylnitrosourea in rats. Gann 75:957–965
Tokumitsu S, Tokumitsu K, Nomura H, Takeuchi T (1978) Deviated formation of intestinal glycocalyx in human stomach cancer cells — Another type of signet ring cell. Virchow Arch B (Cell Pathol) 27:217–227
Trier JS (1963) Studies on small intestinal crypt epithelium I. The fine structure of the crypt epithelium of the proximal small intestine of fasting humans. J Cell Biol 18:559–620
Wylie CV, Nakane PK, Pierce GB (1973) Degree of differentiation in nonproliferating cells of mammary carcinoma. Differentiation 1:11–20
Yamashiro K, Suziki H, Nagayo T (1977) Electron microscopic study of signet-ring cells in diffuse carcinoma of the human stomach. Virchows Arch A (Pathol Anat) 374:275–284
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Sugihara, H., Hattori, T., Fukuda, M. et al. Cell proliferation and differentiation in intramucosal and advanced signet ring cell carcinomas of the human stomach. Vichows Archiv A Pathol Anat 411, 117–127 (1987). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00712735
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00712735