[Long-term results of patients with positive margin after resection of esophageal and gastric cardiac cancers].

From April 1964 to December 1982, 1168 cases with esophageal and cardiac carcinoma underwent esophagogastrectomy. One hundred and fifty-five (13.3%) cases were found to have residual tumor at the esophagogastric stump under microscope. Among them (74 esophageal carcinoma and 81 cardiac carcinoma), 1 died of pneumonia on day 15 after operation and 1 was lost from follow-up. The remaining 153 cases were followed for over 5 years. The 1, 3 and 5 year survival rates were 70.3%, 34.8% and 26.5%, respectively. The main factors influencing the survival were histological classification, depth of tumor infiltration, lymph node metastasis and radical or conservative resection. Long term survival of these patients may be associated with their immunological status.