[Clinic-pathologic pattern and survival range in resectable gastric carcinoma]

The present retrospective study evaluated 180 patients with resectable (Group I ) and 128 patients with unresectable (Group II) gastric carcinoma at Belen Hospital, Trujillo, Peru, from 1966 to 1998, with the aim to identify the clinical and pathological features, actuarial survival rate and surgical morbidity and mortality rates of both groups. The mean age of the total series was of 58.3 + 14.8 years (range, 18 to 85 years). The most frequent symptoms in both groups were abdominal pain (89.4% and 94.5% respectively) and the most common sign was pallor (62.8% and 54.5% respectively). The unresectable cases presented a higher frequency of palpable mass (p<0.001), upper two thirds neoplasms (p=0.0032), T4 lesions (p<0.001), distant metastasis (p<0.001), stage IV (p<0.001), hepatic metastasis (p<0.001) and peritoneal metastasis (p<0.001), compared with resectable gastric cancer patients. The total surgical mortality rate was of 19.5% (Group I: 12.1%, Group II: 28.9%). The most frequent complications were pneumonia (Group I: 8.9%, Group II: 7.8%) and surgical wound infection (Group I: 10.6%, Group II: 3.9%). In Group II, the exploratory laparotomy was carried out in 82 cases, whilst 46 cases underwent gastroenterostomy (n=34), gastrostomy (n=6), gastrectomy by exclusion (n=5) and ileotransversoanastomosis (n=1). The 5-year survival rate in resectable patients was of 18.5% and in unresectable cases the survival rate at 12 and 36 months was of 9% and 0% respectively. The early diagnosis of this neoplasm, mainly in high risk patients, would offer better possibilities of an opportune treatment.