[Supraclavicular metastases of stomach cancer]

To precisely determine the process spread in gastric cancer, in 90 patients left prescalene biopsy was performed simultaneously with the operative procedure on the stomach. In 20% of the patients the histological examination of serial sections showed gastric cancer metastases in non-enlarged supraclavicular lymph nodes. In vast majority of the observations a supraclavicular metastasis diagnosed only histologically was a manifestation of the tumor process spread. In these patients only explorative laparotomy or palliative resection was performed, followed by lethal issue (but one case) in the early postoperative period. The rationale of incuding prescalene biopsy in the scheme of examination for gastric cancer is discussed.