Palliative surgery for gastric cancer

• Published in: Cancer Vol. 62; no. 2; pp. 440 - 444
• Main Authors: Hallissey, M. T., Allum, W. H., Fielding, J. W. L., Roginski, Claudia
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Wiley Subscription Services, Inc., A Wiley Company 15.07.1988; Wiley-Liss
• Subjects: Adenocarcinoma - mortality; Adenocarcinoma - surgery; Biological and medical sciences; Gastroenterology. Liver. Pancreas. Abdomen; Humans; Medical sciences; Neoplasm Metastasis; Palliative Care; Stomach Neoplasms - mortality; Stomach Neoplasms - surgery; Stomach. Duodenum. Small intestine. Colon. Rectum. Anus; Tumors; Human; Stomach; Surgery; Digestive diseases; Advanced stage; Tumor; Palliative treatment
• ISSN: 0008-543X; 1097-0142
• DOI: 10.1002/1097-0142(19880715)62:2<440::AID-CNCR2820620232>3.0.CO;2-N

Most patients with gastric carcinoma have a disease that is too advanced for radical surgery. A Review was made of 13,175 cases of gastric carcinoma registered at the Birmingham Cancer Registry during the period of 1960–1969. Of the patients, 79.6% had disease that was not radically resected, and few of these patients survived to 2 years. Those who had a palliative resection or bypass had the lowest 30‐day mortality rate when compared to all other palliative measures (P < 0.001). Furthermore, palliative resection gave the best survival in the presence of both locally advanced and metastatic disease (P < 0.001). This suggests that the best palliative procedure for those with a disease unsuitable for radical surgery is a resection.