[Value of systematic lymphadenectomy in stomach carcinoma]

In a retrospective study of 157 patients undergoing a curative resection of a gastric carcinoma between 1982 and 1992 the correlation of the lymph node status and histomorphologic parameters of the gastric cancer and the significance of the systematic lymphadenectomy were analysed. The patients were divided into two historical groups (exclusively D1- and systematic D1-/D2-lymphadenectomy). Among the histomorphological parameters only the depth of infiltration (pT) revealed a high correlation with the extent of metastatic lymph node involvement. Tumor form, Laurén-classification and tumor localisation only showed a marginal influence on the nodal status. The overall 5-year survival rate was not significantly changed by the systematic lymphadenectomy, only the subgroup of the UICC-stadium II demonstrated a small benefit. The extended systematic lymph node dissection did not rise the complication rate but lowered the rate of local recurrences. In conclusion, the indication for a systematic lymphadenectomy cannot be deducted from the constellation of different histomorphological parameters, but the feasibility of a systematic lymphadenectomy results from the improvement of staging and survival rate at least for the UICC-II-stadium and the reduction of local recurrences.