Abstract
Since the carcinomas of the cardia and the adenocarcinomas of the esophagus show many similarities in their histological and morphological descriptions, a detailed comparative study was attempted on the basis of 66 esophageal carcinomas in adenoid differentiation, 359 carcinomas of the cardia, 1288 gastric carcinomas in infracardial localisation, and 492 squamous carcinomas of the esophagus. The evaluation yielded no significant differences between the adenocarcinomas of the esophagus and the cardia neither in age and sex distribution nor with regard to the classifications of Borrmann, WHO, Ming, and Laurén, but a significant discrimination was possible between esophageal and cardial adenocarcinoma together, on the one hand, and infracardial gastric carcinoma on the other. Furthermore, esophageal adenocarcinomas were localized preferentially in the lower third, unlike squamous carcinomas of the same organ. These results suggest that esophageal adenocarcinoma and carcinoma of the cardia must be considered as one separate entity, probably originating from a common stem cell. They further suggest that the cardia belongs to the esophagus rather than to the stomach.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Blot WJ, Devesa SS, Kneller RW, Fraumeni JF (1991) Rising incidence of the esophagus and gastric cardia. JAMA 265:1287–1289
Borrmann R (1926) Geschwülste des Magens. In: Handbuch der speziellen Pathologischen Anatomie und Histologie, Vol IV, part 1. Springer, Berlin Heidelberg New York, pp 812–1054
Bosch A, Frias Z, Caldwell WL (1979) Adenocarcinoma of the esophagus. Cancer 43:1557–1561
Cameron AJ, Ott BJ, Payne WS (1985) The incidence of adenocarcinoma in columnar lined (Barrett's) esophagus. N Engl J Med 313:857–859
Duhaylongsod FG, Wolfe WG (1991) Barrett's esophagus and adenocarcinoma of the esophagus and gastroesophagus junction. J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg 102:36–41
Gunnlaugsson GH, Wychulis AR, Roland C, Ellis FH Jr (1970) Analysis of the records of 1657 patients with carcinoma of the esophagus and cardia of the stomach. Surg Gynecol Obstet 997–1005
Haggitt RC, Tryzelaar J, Ellis FH, Colcher H (1978) Adenocarcinoma complicating columnar epithelium-lined (Barrett's) esophagus. Am J Clin Pathol 70:1–5
Heidl G, Awlasewicz I, Dunkel K, Langhans P (1988) Das Kardiakarzinom als eigenständige Entität des Magenkarzinoms. In: Langhans P et al. (eds) Aktuelle Therapie des Adenokarzinoms. Springer, Berlin Heidelberg New York, pp 29–33
Heidl G, Langhans P, Tünnerhoff B, Krieg V, Dunkel K, Böcker W (1990) Adeno-versus Plattenepithelkarzinom des Oesophagus. In: Langhans P et al. (eds) Aktuelle Therapie des Oesophaguskarzinoms. Springer, Berlin Heidelberg New York, pp 92–97
Husemann B (1987) Indikatorische und sich daraus ergebende operative Fehler beim Kardiakarzinom. In: Häring R (ed) Indikatorische und operative Fehler in der Chirurgie Abdominalchirurgie—Gefäßchirurgie. De Gruyter, Berlin New York, pp 153–158
Immich H (1974) Medizinische Statistik. Eine Einführungsvorlesung. Schattauer, Stuttgart New York
Kalish RJ, Clancy PE, Orringer MB, Appelman HD (1984) Clinical, epidemiologic and morphologic comparison between adenocarcinomas arising in Barrett's esophagus mucosa and in the gastric cardia. Gastroenterology 86:461–467
Laurén P (1965) The two histological main types of gastric carcinoma: diffuse and so-called intestinal-type carcinoma. An attempt at a histo-clinical classification. Acta Pathol Microbiol Scand 64:31–49
Li L, Pan GL (1984) Pathlogy of carcinoma of the gastric cardia. In: Huan GJ, Kái WY (eds) Carcinoma of the esophagus and gastric cardia. Springer, Berlin Heidelberg New York, pp 117–154
Lortat-Jacob J-L, Maillard JN, Richard CI-A, Fekete F, Huguier M, Conte-Marti J (1968) Primary esophagus adenocarcinoma: report of 16 cases. Surgery 64:535–543
MacDonald WC (1972) Clinical and pathologic features of adenocarcinoma of the gastric cardia. Cancer 29:724–732
MacDonald WC, MacDonald JB (1987) Adenocarcinoma of the esophagus and/or gastric cardia. Cancer 60:1094–1098
McPeak E, Warren S (1948) Histologic features of carcinoma of the cardioesophageal junction and cardia. Am J Pathol 24:971–991
Ming SC (1977) Gastric carcinoma. A pathobiological classification. Cancer 39:2475–2485
Misumi A, Murakami A, Harada K, Baba K, Akagi M (1989) Definition of carcinoma of the gastric cardia. Langenbecks Arch Chir 374:221–226
Morstyn G, Thomas RJ, Ma J, John DJBS, Abbott M, Van Cooten R, Bhathal PS (1985) Similarity between adenocarcinomas (AC) arising in Barrett's esophagus (BE) and arising at the cardio-esophagus junction (CEJ). Proc Annu Meet Am Assoc Cancer Res 26:147
Mulligan RM, Rember RR (1954) Histogenesis and biological behavior of gastric carcinoma. Arch Pathol 58:1–25
Oota K, Sobin LH (1977) Histological typing of gastric and oesophageal tumours. International histological classification of tumours. No 18. World Health Organization, Geneva
Potet F, Duchatelle V (1990) A Barrett's oesophagus. Curr Top Pathol 81:43–60
Potet F, Flejou JF, Gervaz H, Paraf F (1991) Adenocarcinoma of the lower esophagus and the esophagogastric junction. Semin Diagn Pathol 8:126–136
Powell J, McConkey CC (1990) Incidence of adenocarcinoma of the gastric cardia and adjacent sites. Br J Cancer 62:440–443
Puestow CB, Gillesby WJ, Guynn VL (1955) Cancer of the esophagus. Arch Surg 70:662–671
Rosenberg JC, Budev H, Edwards RC, Singal S, Steiger Z, Sunderson AS (1985) Analysis of adenocarcinoma in Barrett's esophagus utilizing a staging system. Cancer 55:1353–1360
Sanfey H, Hamilton SR, Smith RRL, Cameron JL (1985) Carcinoma arising in Barrett's esophagus. Surg. Gynecol Obstet 161:570–574
Sasse W, Bünte H, Heinicke A (1985) Zur Prognose des Kardiakarzinoms. Langenbecks Arch Chir 365:205–218
Skinner DB, Walther BC, Riddell RH, Schmidt H, Iascone C, De Meester TR (1983) Barrett's esophagus: comparison of benign and malignant cases. Ann Surg 198:554–566
Siewert JR, Hölscher AH, Becker K, Gössner W (1987) Kardiakarzinom: Versuch einer therapeutisch relevanten Klassifikation. Chirurg 58:25–32
Sons HU, Borchard F (1986) Cancer of the distal esophagus and cardia. Incidence, tumour infiltration and metastatic spread. Ann Surg 203:188–194
Spechler SJ, Robbins AH, Rubins HB, Vincent ME, Heeren T, Doos WG, Colton T, Schimmel EM (1984) Adenocarcinoma and Barrett's esophagus: an overrated risk? Gastroenterology 87:927–933
Spiessl B, Hermanek P, Scheibe O, Wagner G (1985) Zur TNM/pTNM-Klassifikation maligner Tumoren. UICC TNM-Atlas, Illustrierter Leitfaden. Springer, Berlin Heidelberg New York
Sprung DJ, Ellis FH, Gibb SP (1984) Incidence of adenocarcinoma in Barrett's esophagus (abstract). Am J Gastroenterol 79:817
Wang HH, Antonioli DA, Goldman H (1986) Comparative features of esophageal and gastric adenocarcinoma: recent changes in type and frequency. Hum Pathol 17:482–487
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Heidl, G., Langhans, P., Mellin, W. et al. Adenocarcinomas of esophagus and cardia in comparison with gastric carcinoma. J Cancer Res Clin Oncol 120, 95–99 (1993). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01200731
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01200731