The current status of chemotherapy for gastric cancer in Japan with special emphasis on mitomycin C.

1. Significant differences in the survival rate between the control and MMC groups were observed for carcinoma simplex, in Stage III in the first and fourth studies, and also for 5FU group in the fifth study for carcinoma simplex and Stage III. 2. For Stage I patients, chemotherapy as an adjuvant to surgery may not be necessary because it decreased the survival rates in the second, third and fourth studies. 3. Total dosage of more than 0.6 mg/kg MMC is necessary to obtain a significant difference in the survival rate between the control and the treated groups. Further controlled clinical studies are necessary to determine the effects of a long-term and multiple combined chemotherapy as an adjuvant to surgery in gastric cancer. These problems are under consideration in the following studies.