Comparative Studies on Clinicopathological Characteristics and Surgical Results in Senile and Young Gastric Cancer

Masatsugu Kitamura, Kuniyoshi Arai, Kaoru Miyashita

Department of Surgery, Tokyo Metropolitan Komagome Hospital

Clinicopathological characteristics and surgical results were compared in 85 senile patients with gastric cancer, aged 80 years or above and in 70 younger patients with carcinoma of the stomach, aged 35 years or less. When the incidences of the carcinomas in the two groups were compared at five-year intervals, no tendency of an increase was noted in the younger group, while a marked increase was seen in the elderly group during the past five years. Clinicopathological characteristics in the senile patients included R₁ lymph node dissection and subtotal gastrectomy in many cases, a low incidence of early cancer (19%), a high incidence of type 2 cancer (35%), and fewer type 4 cancers. The senile group was characterized by a high incidence of n₁ (+) lymph node metastasis. Histologically, 77% of the senile patients had the differentiated type, while 88% of the younger group had the undifferentiated type. Although the early carcinoma of the senile group was a differentiated type with an elevated lesion, that of the younger patients was an undifferentiated type with a depressed lesion. Multiple lesions of early gastric cancer were found in many of the elderly patients. The five-year survival rate for the senile patients who received curative therapy was 63%, as compared with 81% for the younger patients, showing poor prognosis for the aged patients. As for the causes of death, the elderly patients died of diseases other than cancers, while most deaths were due to the relapse of cancer in the younger patients. These results suggest that careful clinical observation is necessary for the accurate of prognosis for senile patients.

Key words
clinicopathological characteristics of gastric cancer, surgical results of elderly and young gastric cancer patients

Reprint requests
Masatsugu Kitamura Department of Surgery, Tokyo Metropolitan Komagome Hospital
3-18-22 Honkomagome, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, 113 JAPAN

Accepted
October 9, 1991

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