Postoperative staging of gastric carcinoma. A comparison between the UICC stage classification and the 12th edition of the Japanese General Rules for Gastric Cancer Study.

BACKGROUND

The feasibility of the latest edition of the Japanese General Rules for Gastric Cancer Study (GRGCS) is evaluated by comparison with the TNM system.

METHODS

In a 5-year period from 1985 to 1989, 978 patients with gastric cancer underwent laparotomies at the Dept. of Gastroenterological Surgery, Aichi Centre Centre, Japan. All the patients have now been followed up for 5 years or until death. These patients were retrospectively classified into appropriate clinical stages and residual tumour status on the basis of the GRGCS and the 4th edition of the TNM classification by the UICC, and survival curves for various stages and subgroups were evaluated.

RESULTS

The GRGCS classification provided useful information by splitting UICC stage IV into stages IVa and IVb, and R0 into curabilities A and B, both subgroups showing significant differences in the survival curves.

CONCLUSIONS

The new edition of the GRGCS can be recommended as a useful staging manual for gastric cancer.