Abstract
To determine more objectively whether or not palliative gastrectomy is indicated in patients with advanced gastric cancer, the influences of the gross findings of the cancer, the histological type and the patient's age on postoperative survival months were investigated by multiple regression analysis in 101 patients who underwent palliative gastrectomies. The results demonstrated that postoperative survival was shortened in patients less than 40 years old and in those with extensive peritoneal disseminations of more than P1, hepatic involvement, lymphatic spread beyound N3 and poorly differentiated adenocarcinoma. On the other hand, factors which prolonged the survival time were age of more than 40 years, peritoneal disseminations of less than P2, lack of hepatic involvement, lymphatic spread of less than N3 and highly differentiated adenocarcinoma. Patients who had more than four factors working to shorten the survival time demonstrated almost the same survival curve as that in unresectable cases and seemed not to be candidates for palliative gastrectomy.
