[Cytological control of the extent of tumor excision in stomach cancer]

To ascertain precisely the gastric cancer stage is possible only during the operation. In many medical institutions the degree of local tumor proliferation and the level of its metastatic spread is assessed by a surgeon basing on his personal experience by the examination and palpation findings. Use of the intraoperative cytologic assay in surgical treatment of gastric cancer enables ascertaining the fact of tumor spread beyond the organ boundaries. Moreover, the cytologic method provides an objective control of ablasty of the operation performed. The cytologic check was employed in 198 oncological patients subjected to partial or total gastric resection. The detection of free tumor cells in the abdominal cavity at the start or termination of the operation would influence the surgical policy in each particular case.