According to the Laurén classification 357 carcinomas of the stomach were reclassified into intestinal and diffuse types. 58.2% were assigned to the intestinal type, 37.5% to the diffuse and 4% to a "mixed" group. There is obvious correlation between the intestinal type, the patients' advancing age and the incidence of chronic, atrophising gastritis with intestinal metaplasia. The diffuse type on the other hand occurs irrespective of gastric changes - mostly in younger persons. The intestinal type of gastric carcinoma frequently is found in risk areas where incidence is "epidemic" in nature; morphology and genetic origin seem to be gastric mucosa changes and intestinal metaplasia or dysplasia. Classifying gastric carcinoma according to Laurén (two groups) is also an appropriate method in our regions as was confirmed by the results we obtained; it is superior to the much more differentiated macro- and microscopic classifications used so far. Because of its simplicity, it is better suited for epidemiological and pathogenetic studies of the gastric carcinoma.