Surgical management of gastric cancer patients with liver cirrhosis.

From 1966 to 1992, a total of 3,118 gastric cancer (GC) patients were referred to the First Department of Surgery, Kurume University Hospital. Fifty-six (0.02%) of these patients also had liver cirrhosis (LC). Forty-nine (87.5%) of these patients with LC underwent GC resection. Postoperative complications occurred in 32.7%, but the operative mortality rate was zero using our preoperative assessment of liver function to decide the operation. The 5-year survival rate following curative resection was 69% in early cancer and 17% in advanced cancer. Deaths were mainly cirrhosis-related in the early cancer cases, while cancer recurrence and hepatic failure were the main causes of mortality in the advanced cancer cases.