This section is from the book "Cancer And Other Tumours Of The Stomach", by Samuel Fenwick. Also available from Amazon: Cancer and other tumours of the stomach.
A careful examination of the various tissues of the body after death from cancer of the stomach brings to light two important facts. In the first place, it would appear that although the disease may be attended by many and diverse complications, it is seldom preceded by organic changes in other viscera; in other words, carcinoma is particularly prone to attack those who have enjoyed an exceptional immunity from disease. Thus, in only 17 per cent, of our cases was there any indication of antecedent mischief in an important organ ; whereas in chronic ulcer, which occurs at an earlier period of life, some old-standing lesion of the lungs, heart, liver, or kidneys is found in at least 40 per cent. In the second place, in those cases in which tuberculosis and gastric cancer coexist in the same individual, it is almost invariably found that the former has become quiescent or even completely obsolescent before the onset of the latter; indeed, in the whole of our experience we are unable to call to mind more than two or three instances where active tuberculosis was present along with a cancerous growth in the stomach. In this connection the statements of Rokitansky regarding the incompatibility of the two diseases are of special interest.
 
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