The Significance of the Extent of Proximal Margins of Clearance in Gastric Cancer Surgery

Abstract

The surgery of gastric carcinoma should take into account the differences in growth pattern between the intestinal and diffuse type in accordance with Lauren. From 1969 to 1983, a total number of 849 patients were included in this study at the Dept. of Surgery, University of Erlangen. Results show that in diffuse-type carcinoma prognosis is influenced by the distance between the macroscopically detectable margins of the tumor and the proximal resection lines. The presented survival data suggest a proximal margin of clearance of at least 5 cm—measured on a fresh and unstretched specimen, corresponding to 10 cm in situ—for resection of gastric carcinoma of the diffuse type.

Key Words:

• Diffuse-type carcinoma
• extent of resection
• gastric carcinoma
• intestinal-type carcinoma
• margins of clearance