Recent advances in surgical treatment have improved the survival of patients with gastric carcinoma

BACKGROUND: Mortality resulting from gastric carcinoma is decreasing. This is mainly due to vigorous endoscopic screening and the consequent higher incidence of early detection of the disease. In this study, to evaluate the effect of surgical treatment on the prognoses of patients with gastric carcinoma, the survival of 1579 patients who underwent gastrectomy between 1970 and 1994 was retrospectively analyzed. METHODS: The patients were divided into 5 groups at 5-year intervals. Postoperative survival was compared among the groups. RESULTS: Postoperative survival was significantly improved in the later groups for patients with Stage I, II, III, and IV disease. A multivariate analysis of prognostic factors revealed that the time period during which the gastrectomy was performed was an independent predictor of survival. CONCLUSIONS: It was concluded that survival has been improved by recent advances in the surgical approach to gastric carcinoma.