Figure 1

Hematoxylin and eosin and Masson staining of peritoneum tissues. Normal peritoneum and peritoneum from different stages of gastric cancer were obtained surgically and subjected to H&E and the Masson staining. A, All photos were obtained at 40 × magnification. a and e, The normal peritoneum consists of only a monolayer of mesothelium with little fibrosis (arrows). b and f, Peritoneum from the patients with early gastric cancer also showed small amounts of connective tissue under the mesothelial cells. In contrast, the peritoneum from patients with carcinomatosis at stage III (c, g) and IV (d, h) was substantially thickened and contained extensive fibrosis (arrows). B, Morphometric parameters of peritoneal tissues. Data are expressed as the mean ± standard error of the mean of at least 3 separate experiments.