Evaluation of palliative resection in advanced carcinoma of the stomach.

A retrospective study of 140 patients with adenocarcinoma of the stomach seen at Roswell Park Memorial Institute during a 5 year period revealed that 112 patients were TNM Stages III or IV. A palliative resection of the stomach was done in 39 patients; the other 73 did not undergo resection. Patients who had palliative resection for stages III and IV carcinoma of the stomach had a prolonged mean survival rate, as compared with those with similar stage of disease who did not have palliative resection, regardless of an additional treatment such as feeding procedures, gastroenterostomy, chemotherapy, and radiation therapy. This significance was noticed regardless of age, sex, and histological differentiation of the tumor. Chemotherapy significantly increased the survival rate in the unresected group but failed to show this effect in the resected group.