Cancer of the stomach: are curative resections of any importance with respect to postoperative survival in patients with locoregional disease?

Ninety-seven patients operated on for cancer of the stomach with locoregional spread, i.e. invasion of adjacent tissue and/or lymph node metastases, have been studied in order to evaluate whether the surgeon's intraoperative assessment of "curative resection" was of any significance with respect to postoperative survival. Survival was not significantly different in patients who had undergone curative resection as compared with those who underwent palliative resection. Patients with unresectable disease had a significantly reduced survival rate compared with the other two groups. We conclude that resection should be performed if at all possible in patients with locoregional disease as resection seems to be effective in prolonging survival. On the other hand, whether the resection is though to be curative or palliative seems to be of less importance with respect to postoperative survival.