Comparison of 5- and 10-year survival rates in operated gastric cancer patients. Assessment of the 5-year survival rate as a valid indicator of postoperative curability.

To evaluate whether it is appropriate to estimate the postoperative curability of gastric cancer based on the 5-year survival rate, we compared 5- and 10-year survival rates in 477 primary gastric cancer patients who had undergone gastrectomy during the 8-year period from 1960-1967. In patients who had died more than 5 years after surgery, the cause of death was investigated. The 10-year survival rate of 315 curatively operated patients was 59.1%, 2.9% lower than the 5-year survival rate. Of 176 patients who survived more than 5 years postoperatively, only 9 (5.1%) died of cancer recurrence, suggesting that the 5-year survival rate adequately reflects the curative success of gastric cancer surgery. The postoperative curability of gastric cancer is usually estimated by the 5-year survival rate. However, even in patients who survived for more than 5 years postoperatively, cancer recurrence has been observed. Therefore, we deemed it useful to assess whether it is appropriate to estimate the postoperative curability of gastric cancer based on the 5-year survival rate. From this point of view, we compared the 5- and 10-year survival rates of operated primary gastric patients and investigated the cause of death in patients who died more than 5 years postoperatively. Furthermore, in patients with cancer recurrence more than 5 years postoperatively, the pathologic findings on the cancer in the originally resected specimen were re-evaluated.