[Effect of gamma therapy on liver function in the combined treatment of cancer of the cardia and esophagus].

The effects of preoperative gamma-therapy and gastrostomy performed in Dobromyslov-Torek's operation on the function of the liver were studied by histological and histochemical examination of material obtained in biopsy of liver and biochemical assays of blood in a study group including 40 patients with cardial cancer and 9 cases of esophageal tumor. It was shown that both preoperative irradiation and gastrostomy-mediated nutrition cause pronounced morphological lesions of liver tissue. Although biochemical indices remain within norm, the compensatory capability of liver in such patients is lower than in unexposed ones.