CHRONIC GASTRIC ULCER AND ITS RELATION TO GASTRIC CARCINOMA

Abstract

The discussion which is going on in the literature over the question of whether or not gastric carcinoma develops on chronic gastric ulcer and regarding the percentage of chronic ulcers which "become" carcinomatous, is, it seems to us, a discussion which is not only dealing with an unanswerable question with our present methods of investigation, but is also doing a great deal of unnecessary harm to mankind by preventing rational treatment. Viewed from the standpoint of feasibility of scientific investigation, such discussion seems superfluous for the following reasons : 1. No one has seen a chronic gastric ulcer in the process of development. 2. No one has been able to witness the stages of reaction to irritation through which the tissues of the gastric wall pass during the formation of ulcer or carcinoma. 3. No one has ever recognized carcinoma in the process of development anywhere in man or