[Survival of patients with inoperable stomach cancer treated with 5-fluorouracil]

Late results of treatment in 71 patients are analysed. The survival during 2 years following tentative laparotomy in 35 patients, treated with 5-fluoruracil with a clinical effect (objective and symptomatic improvement), was reliably higher than the survival of patients treated without any effect. The comparable groups of patients did not differ in the extent of tumor spread, however, in patients treated with the effect the time elapsed since tentative laparotomy up to the initiation of chemotherapy was reliably longer than in those treated without any effect. It is assumed that the duration of this period is an indirect index reflecting the rate of tumor growth in different patients. With this in mind, it is suggested that the longer survival of patients, treated with 5-fluoruracil with the effect, may be related with a more favourable course ofthe tumor process in these patients, as compared with those treated without any effect.