Early gastric cancer (EGC) is defined as a carcinoma limited to the mucosa or mucosa and submucosa, irrespective of whether metastasis to lymph nodes has occurred. EGC presents a much more favorable prognosis than advanced gastric carcinoma (AGC), with a 5-year survival rate between 88% and 96% for EGC versus 45% to 50% for AGC. Moreover, some gastric cancers appear as a more or less extended EGC with focal AGC (fAGC). The purpose of this study was to analyze prognostic factors in this intermediate group of tumors. From 1981 to 1992, among the 615 gastrectomy specimens with carcinoma examined at the Institute of Pathology of the University of Lausanne, only 19 tumors corresponded to the criteria of EGC with fAGC. Clinicopathologic features were studied, and a cytophotometric DNA analysis was performed. Our results show a 5-year survival rate for EGC with fAGC of 61% (11 of 18 patients alive), intermediate between that of EGC and AGC. No significant correlations were found between the most known predictive factors and prognosis. Most tumors analyzed (16 of 19) showed a diploid DNA content in the superficial as well as in the invasive areas. Contrary to the findings in the literature, which show a high-ploidy DNA pattern in most AGC, our cases show low-ploidy DNA even in the invasive portion of the tumors. In conclusion, we show that EGC with focal AGC represents a gastric cancer with an intermediate prognosis and, therefore, must be considered as a specific subtype of gastric carcinoma