Table 2. Histopathological characteristics of gastric cancer according to the study period.
| Factor | Subgroup | 1995 | 1999 | 2004 | 2009 | 2014 | 2019 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Location | Lower | 2,374 (49.3) | 2,919 (49.6) | 5,347 (49.8) | 7,919 (56.0) | 7,959 (53.8) | 6,422 (47.1) |
| Middle | 1,798 (37.4) | 2,050 (34.8) | 3,635 (33.8) | 4,045 (28.6) | 4,233 (28.6) | 4,100 (30.1) | |
| Upper | 539 (11.2) | 738 (12.5) | 1,493 (13.9) | 1,895 (13.4) | 2,365 (16.0) | 2,844 (20.9) | |
| Entire | 100 (2.1) | 178 (3.0) | 299 (2.8) | 292 (2.1) | 244 (1.6) | 272 (2.0) | |
| Tumor size (cm) | <2.0 | 812 (19.5) | 1,164 (21.8) | 2,675 (24.8) | 3,063 (22.0) | 3,300 (22.3) | 3,146 (23.5) |
| 2.0–3.9 | 1,342 (32.3) | 1,650 (30.9) | 3,528 (32.7) | 5,212 (37.5) | 5,751 (38.8) | 5,187 (38.8) | |
| 4.0–5.9 | 972 (23.4) | 1,183 (22.1) | 2,235 (20.7) | 2,821 (20.3) | 2,990 (20.2) | 2,689 (20.1) | |
| 6.0–7.9 | 548 (13.2) | 598 (13.1) | 1,215 (11.3) | 1,437 (10.3) | 1,359 (9.2) | 1,180 (8.8) | |
| 8.0–9.9 | 270 (6.5) | 364 (6.8) | 626 (5.8) | 673 (4.8) | 670 (4.5) | 538 (4.0) | |
| ≥10.0 | 215 (5.2) | 286 (5.4) | 508 (4.7) | 690 (5.0) | 754 (5.1) | 624 (4.7) | |
| Macroscopic type | EGC type I | 106 (8.6) | 124 (8.0) | 253 (5.9) | 400 (5.1) | 401 (4.6) | 332 (4.0) |
| EGC type IIa | 138 (11.2) | 138 (8.9) | 435 (10.2) | 937 (12.0) | 1,222 (13.9) | 1,262 (15.2) | |
| EGC type IIb | 241 (19.6) | 293 (18.8) | 902 (21.1) | 1,578 (20.3) | 1,938 (22.1) | 2,126 (25.5) | |
| EGC type IIc | 695 (56.6) | 901 (57.9) | 2,346 (54.9) | 4,408 (56.6) | 4,757 (54.1) | 4,233 (50.9) | |
| EGC type III | 49 (4.0) | 99 (6.4) | 339 (7.9) | 462 (5.9) | 470 (5.3) | 370 (4.4) | |
| Borrmann 1 | 159 (4.9) | 137 (4.0) | 198 (3.6) | 270 (4.8) | 274 (5.0) | 192 (4.0) | |
| Borrmann 2 | 763 (23.6) | 825 (23.8) | 1,165 (21.3) | 1,235 (21.9) | 1,242 (22.5) | 1,030 (21.2) | |
| Borrmann 3 | 1,867 (57.7) | 1,980 (57.1) | 3,377 (61.8) | 3,464 (61.3) | 3,338 (60.4) | 2,983 (61.4) | |
| Borrmann 4 | 445 (13.8) | 523 (15.1) | 720 (13.2) | 679 (12.0) | 674 (12.2) | 581 (12.0) | |
| Borrmann 5 | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | 73 (1.5) | |
| Histology | Papillary | 61 (0.6) | 168 (1.2) | 86 (0.6) | 90 (0.7) | ||
| Tubular WD | 1,517 (14.7) | 1,761 (12.5) | 1,733 (11.5) | 1,359 (10.0) | |||
| Tubular MD | 3,091 (29.9) | 4,283 (30.3) | 4,538 (30.2) | 4,428 (32.5) | |||
| Tubular PD | 3,721 (35.9) | 4,820 (34.1) | 4,288 (28.5) | 3,630 (26.6) | |||
| PCC (SRC)* | 1,597 (15.4) | 2,686 (19.0) | 2,715 (18.1) | 2,603 (19.1) | |||
| Mucinous | 249 (2.4) | 324 (2.3) | 380 (2.5) | 187 (1.4) | |||
| Mixed carcinoma* | NA | NA | 714 (4.7) | 930 (6.8) | |||
| Others | 118 (1.1) | 100 (0.7) | 573 (3.8) | 398 (3.0) |
Values are presented as number (%). The sum of the percentages does not equal 100% because of rounding.
EGC = early gastric cancer; WD = well differentiated; MD = moderately differentiated; PD = poorly differentiated; PCC = poorly cohesive carcinoma; SRC = signet ring cell carcinoma; NA = not available (items were not included in the survey).
*Mixed carcinomas display a mixture of discrete morphologically identifiable glandular (tubular/papillary) and poorly cohesive cellular histological components (signet ring cell).