New aspects in the surgical treatment of gastric carcinoma--a comparative study of 1636 patients operated on between 1969 and 1982.

During the last 15 years in our department, the overall 5-year survival rate in patients with gastric cancer has increased from 20% to 30%. This improvement in prognosis is explained by three factors: (1) the reduction in surgical mortality, (2) an increase in the resectability rate, (3) the introduction of a histology-oriented surgical approach that takes account of the differences in growth behaviour between the intestinal and diffuse types of carcinoma as defined by Laurén. A further new aspect in gastric cancer surgery is the concept of extended lymph node dissection.