[Radiotherapy combined with tegafur for inoperable advanced gastric cancer]

A total of 58 cases with inoperable advanced gastric carcinomas were treated by radiotherapy combined with tegafur, and the result was analyzed mainly from the aspects of life expectancies and some prognostic factors. Median survival time of all cases was 8.9 months. Actuarial survival rates at one, two, three, four and five years were 45%, 22%, 14%, 14% and 11% respectively. Cancer type, histologic type, tumor size and radiation effect on the primary lesion were chosen as the prognostic factors, and examined using median survival time as a parameter. Borrmann IV type cancer showed an unequivocally poor prognosis, whereas no significant prognostic differences were seen among other types. Poorly differentiated adenocarcinoma gave a poor prognosis. Radiation effect on the primary lesion seemed to have a positive correlation with prognosis, while life expectancies became shorter with the increase of tumor size. It seems, from the present study, that this combination therapy contributes a great deal to life prolongation of patients with inoperable advanced gastric carcinomas.