Surgical treatment of carcinoma of the oesophagus and cardia.

A clinical series of 216 patients with carcinoma of the oesophagus or cardia, who underwent surgical resection of the oesophagus, is presented. There were 104 patients with oesophageal carcinoma and 112 patients with carcinoma of the cardia. Histologically, there were 102 squamous cell carcinomas, 98 adenocarcinomas, 11 anaplastic carcinomas and 7 non-differentiated carcinomas. Oesophago-gastrotomy was the procedure mostly used; colon interposition was done in only 13 cases. The hospital mortality was 21%. The 5-year survival rate for the whole series after oesophageal resection was 23%. The duration of symptoms, location of the tumour, age and sex of the patients, pre- or postoperative radiotherapy and the histological type of the tumour had only a minor bearing on survival. The two most important prognostic factors were the spread of the tumour at time of operation and a preceding lye stricture. The 5-year survival rate was 34% for the patients with a local tumour at operation and 44% for those in whom the carcinoma developed at the site of a previous lye stricture. The variance of the results in the literature is discussed. Surgical approach to the carcinoma of the oesophagus and cardia is recommended in all the cases in which the patient and tumour seem to be eligible for resection.