Recurrent gastric carcinoma--analysis of 100 in-patients--

Between 1964 and 1981, 100 in-patients with recurrent gastric carcinoma following curative resection were investigated in the Second Department of Surgery, Kyushu University Hospital. The disease-free interval after initial operation and the advancement of the carcinoma correlated. The mean disease free interval of cases with local recurrence was 4 years and 1 month, that is 2 years longer than in cases of peritoneal dissemination or hematogenous metastasis. The disease free interval and the survival time after recurrence also correlated. Patients with a relapse more than 2 years after initial operation survived statistically longer than did those with a relapse in less than 2 years (p less than 0.01). One and 2 year survival rates after recurrence in the second resection group was 41.4 per cent and 17.2 per cent, respectively. Almost all patients in the other group died within one year after recurrence. The average survival in patients on a combination of chemotherapy and resection of the recurrent tumor was about 2 years and longer than in cases of resection but without chemotherapy.