Abstract

Background: In the last decade, changes in therapy and on the epidemiological and pathological behavior of gastric cancer have occurred in Chile. Aim: To compare the natural history of gastric cancer in two periods (1986-1995 and 1996-2005) in the ninth region of Chile. Material and Methods: Medical records of 563 gastrectomies for gastric cancer, performed between January 1986 and December 2005 and kept at a Pathology Unit of a public hospital, were reviewed. Clinical and morphological variables were analyzed (histological Lauren type, differentiation degree, location and macroscopic type, infiltration level, number of resected and involved lymph nodes). Results: A significant increase in the frequeney of the diffuse type of gastric cancer was observed in the seeond period in study, with a concomitant deerease of the intestinal type. A reduction in tumor size and number of excised lymph nodes was also observed. Conclusions: In the seeond study period, morphological changes in gastric cancer, were observed.