Johan Torgersen

Gastric carcinoma with special reference to the sex ratio, age and situation and to the anatomy of the stomach.

The sex ratio, the age curve and situation of gastric cancer are of importance in the study of the etiology of the disease. The literature shows that such data are difficult to obtain, due to the many pitfalls in the mortality and morbidity statistics. According to HANSEN (1950), about 30 per cent of the cases are not diagnosed, even in hospitals; latent tumours of the stomach are presumably relatively frequent in old people. In some countries too many cases may be recorded as cancer, in others too few. The position regarding the site of the growth is no better, partly due to ignorance regarding the importance of precise localization, and partly due to a lack of knowledge of the anatomy of the stomach. As far as cancer is concerned, the mucosa is of greater interest than the muscularis, which latter has generally formed the basis of the regional topography of the stomach. Not infrequently the muscular and mucosal topography is mixed; this is particularly the case regarding such ambiguous terms as ‘pyloric part’ and ‘fundus’. It is important that a study of the regional topography of the stomach includes a consideration both of the mucosa and the muscularis. As the radiologist locates a tumour from macroscopic observation, a consideration of the mucosa presumes a synthesis of the macroscopic and microscopic anatomy of the stomach. From a functional point of view the muscular and mucosal topography are integrated. The digestive part of the stomach containing the glandulae gastricae propriae, is remarkable for its weak musculature with a mainly retentive function. The chiefly