[Treatment of resectable cancer of the stomach]

The results of 631 cancers of the stomach treated by gastrectomy between 1970 and 1983 were closely reviewed in six departments of surgery. This review showed that the prognostic factors determined by resectability, extension of the tumor and lymph node involvement are considered to be reliable following the various pre- and postoperative examinations. In addition, it was shown that most of the gastrectomies were performed following conventional procedures and that the widespread lymph node dissections are not applied in a systematic manner. The postoperative mortality is very low (4.4%) for all the gastrectomies and even lower for the radical gastrectomies (3%). The 5 year survival rate for all the gastrectomies is 15%; this rate amounts to 36% for the gastrectomies performed with a curative aim. In the discussion, the adjuvant radiotherapy and chemotherapy are discussed and their timeliness is shown.