[Therapy of stomach carcinoma in older people]

Of 242 gastric cancer patients undergoing surgery in this clinic between 1979 and 1986, 84 (35%) were aged over 70. Staging of patients by the UICC (1978) classification was I: 4.8%, II: 16.7%, III: 18% and IV: 60.5%. Resection rate was 71.4% (60/84) with postoperative hospital mortality of 11.7% (7/60). Mortality in non-resected patients was 25% (6/24). Mortality after total gastrectomy was 11% and after distal resection 5.3%. Actuarial 5-year survival with curative resection was 43.5%, whereas no patient with palliative resection was alive 2 years (range 2-22 months) after surgery (p less than 0.01). These results show that curative resection is the therapy of choice even in elderly patients, due to the low operative risk and excellent survival.