What is the difference between intestinal and diffuse stomach cancer?

Intestinal and diffuse are two ways of describing adenocarcinoma of the stomach based on how the cancer cells look under a microscope.

Intestinal adenocarcinomas are well differentiated, meaning the cancer cells look similar to normal cells under a microscope. Diffuse adenocarcinomas are undifferentiated or poorly differentiated, meaning the cancer cells look different from normal cells. Diffuse adenocarcinomas tend to grow and spread more quickly than the intestinal type and can be harder to treat.

Your healthcare team can explain what these terms mean for your own situation and pathology results.