Carcinoma of the stomach

Seventy-five cases of stomach carcinoma were analyzed. The incidence was highest between 41 and 50 years of age. Male to female ratio was 4:1. The average duration of symptoms was one year. There was no correlation between incidence and the dietary and smoking habits of the patients. Epigastric pain was the commonest complaint followed byanorexis, vomiting and loss of weight. Anemia was the commonest finding. Epigastric mass was present in nearly 50% of cases. Pyloric obstruction was common. Upper gastrointestinal x-ray studies were rewarding. Occult blood was often found in the stools. The majority of patients were about equally distributed between blood groups A and O. Many patients had no or low acid levels but 7.5% had normal or high acid levels. At operation, the growth was commonly found near the pylorus. Diffuse involvement was infrequent. Curative surgery could be done in only 20% of cases. One-third of the patients had palliative gastrojejunostomy. The operative mortality and morbidity were high. The overall five-year survival was only 5%.