Signet ring cell carcinoma was induced in canine stomachs by N-ethyl-N'-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine, and modes of cell proliferation and turnover in the carcinoma were studied by 3H-thymidine autoradiography in conjunction with morphometric analysis. From 2 to 15 months after the cessation of 8 months carcinogen treatment, carcinomas in an early stage were obtained. Most of the cancer tissues confined to the lamina propria showed a layered structure. This comprised three layers; the superficial and the deep layer were composed of signet ring cells, and the middle layer was composed of small round cells. The dogs were labeled with 3H-thymidine by s.c. injection and by local infusion of the celiac artery. Flash-labeled autoradiographs revealed that most 3H-thymidine incorporating cancer cells were located around the middle layer, with a small amount of mucin. Using a pulse labeling experiment, those labeled carcinoma cells were shown to migrate from the middle layer towards the surface. Morphometric analysis of the autoradiographs showed that the small cells in the middle layer migrated upwards and produced mucin to become full-blown signet ring cells by 5.5 days. In 15 days, most labeled cancer cells in the superficial layer had disappeared. This mode of cellular turnover appeared to mimic a cell renewal system of the normal gastric mucosa. If the cancer cells turn over in this way, the tumor must grow slowly, remaining as an intramucosal cancer for a relatively long period.