Advisability of palliative resections in incurable advanced gastric cancer

Effective treatment is the primary objective of surgeon in the treatment of advanced gastric cancer. Poor prognosis and significant advancement of gastric cancer at the time of diagnosis are decisive factors for the only possible surgical management method being palliative procedures.

was the evaluation of the value of palliative resection procedures in patients with advanced gastric cancer.

The subject in the study was a group of 105 patients with gastric adenocarcinoma at stage 4 of advancement, in whom curative treatment was not possible. The group constituted 44.5% of patients operated on due to gastric cancer at the Department of General and Oncological Surgery, PUM, in the years 1998-2009. The patients were divided into two groups: the first one comprised 44 patients post palliative resections, the second - 61 patients post non-resection procedures. The subject of analysis were early and late treatment results post palliative resections, and they were compared with the treatment results post non-resection procedures.

Palliative resections were performed in 44 patients (19 females and 25 males), while in 61 patients (38 males and 23 females) non-resection procedures were performed. Postoperative complications were observed in 25% of patients in the group post palliative resections and in 11.5% in the group of patients without the resection of primary focus. In-hospital mortality stood at 4.5% in the group post palliative resections and 4.8% in the group post non-resection procedures. The percentage of 1-year and 4-year survival post palliative resections stood at 43% and 8.8%, respectively. In the group without the resection of primary focus, 16% survived 1 year and nobody survived 2 years.

Palliative resections improve the survival of patients with incurable gastric cancer and should be considered if only the loco-regional conditions are favourable.