[Carcinoma arising in Barrett's esophagus and report of 51 cases]

Fifty-one patients with carcinoma arising in Barrett's esophagus were treated surgically from 1971 to 1990. This represented 10.2% of all treated cases with esophageal carcinoma during the same period. The mean age was 63 years. The most common symptom was dysphagia. According to PTNM staging, 18 were stage II, 24 stage III and 4 stage IV. All patients were treated by surgery. The 30-day hospital mortality was 3.9%. The one, two and five-year survival rates were 45.9%, 25.0% and 13.6%, respectively. The 5-year survival rate was significant greater for stage II (25.0%) than for stage III + IV patients (4.5%), and for tumor length < 6 cm (21.0%) than for tumor length > 6 cm (0). The results indicate that the survival rate following resection is closely related to the clinical stage and tumor size.