Postoperative Recurrent Patterns and Causes of Death in Early Gastric Cancer

Masatsugu Kitamura, Kuniyoshi Arai, Kaoru Miyashita

Department of Surgery, Tokyo Metropolitan Komagome Hospital

The purpose of this study was to review the pattern of recurrence of early gastric cancer and the actual state of death from other diseases and cancer of other organs affecting prognosis. The subjects were patients with early gastric cancer, 304 with mucosal cancer and 276 with submucosal cancer. Seventy-one died from the following diseases: recurrent gastric cancer (4 patients, 5.6%), cancer in the remnant stomach (3 patients, 4.2%), noncancerous diseases (41 patients, 57.7%), and cancer of other organs (23 patients, 32.4%). There were recurrences in one patients with mucosal cancer and three with submucosal cancer patients, and three patients had lymph node metastasis (n (-): 1 patients; n₂ (+): 2 patients; n₃ (+): 1 patients). Cancer recurred in the peritoneum, Virchow's node, the liver and lungs. The major causes of death other than cancer were cardiac disease (11 patients, 28.2%), cerebro-vascular diseases (7 patients, 17.9%), and respiratory disease (7 patients, 17.9%). The major causes of death due to cancer of other organs were colorectal cancer (6 patients, 26.1%) and lung cancer (6 patients, 26.1%), followed by hepatoma (4 patients, 17.4%) and pancreatic cancer (3 patients, 13.0%). In general, colorectal cancer was synchronous and lung and liver cancers heterochronous. Consequently, postoperative treatment of early gastric cancer patients demands periodic gastroscopy of the remnant stomach, complete examination to detect cancer in other organs, and preventing death from other diseases.

Key words
causes of death in early gastric cancer, recurrent pattern in early gastric cancer

Reprint requests
Masatsugu Kitamura Department of Surgery, Tokyo Metropolitan Komagome Hospital
3-18-2 Honkomagome, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, 113 JAPAN

Accepted
September 4, 1991

To read the PDF file you will need Abobe Reader installed on your computer.