Survival after surgery for advanced carcinoma of the stomach other than the cardia.

The survival of 103 patients operated on for advanced carcinoma of the stomach other than the cardia was assessed. The median duration of survival for patients subjected to palliative partial gastrectomy, total gastrectomy, gastrojejunostomy, and biopsy only was 24, 22, 11, and 10 weeks, respectively. All of these patients had definite residual tumor. In the 27 patients with preoperative signs of incurable tumor, the high operative mortality rate (19 percent), the low rate of resectability (26 percent), and the short duration of survival in the patients who had resection (median 11 weeks) combined lead to the conclusion that exploration for the possibility of resection is not worthwhile.