Abstract
Free cancer cells in the peritoneal cavity from 60 cases of gastric cancer were examined by means of Douglas's cavity lavage, to study the relationship bet ween free cancer cells in the peritoneal cavity and the cancer infiltration to the gastric peritoneum.
The results were summarized as follows.
1. Free cancer cells in the peritoneal cavity were observed in the cases where the cancer infiltration had reached the gastric peritoneum (S2:37%;S3: 59%).
2. The gastric peritoneum was cytologically examined by touchsmear method, and cancer cells were found on the surface of the gastric peritoneum in almost all cases of S2 and S3 (S2:95%;S3: 100%).
3. In the cases where free cancer cells were proved in the peritoneal cavity, the gastric peritoneal infiltration covered an area of 15-20cm2 or more, and the center of the surface of the gastric peritoneal infiltration macroscopically looked like white moss and the periphery of it, like small granules, in most of the cases. Poorly differentiated adenocarcinoma was revealed in the histological findings.
4. The viability of free cancer cells in the peritonealcavity was relatively high.
