title: Early gastric cancer in southern Taiwan.
abstract: Between January 1986 and November 1990, 231 patients underwent resection for primary gastric adenocarcinoma at Chang Gung Memorial Hospital in southern Taiwan. Thirty-nine (17%) of these patients had early gastric cancer (limited to the mucosa or submucosa regardless of nodal metastases). Epigastric pain was the most frequent symptom (71.8%). The lesions were located in the lower third of the stomach in 84.6% of the patients and in the middle third in 15.4%. A preoperative diagnosis of gastric cancer was achieved in 94% of patients by endoscopic examination with biopsies. All of the patients underwent distal subtotal gastrectomy without mortality. Macroscopically, 84.6% of cases were included in types IIc, III, and IIc-III. One patient died of multiple liver metastases 3.2 years after operation. The cumulative survival rate at 5 years is 92.9%. We comment on these matters and place early gastric cancer in Taiwan into a more global context.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Chang Gung Medical College, Kaohsiung Hsien, Taiwan, Republic of China.
authors.forename: S M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Sheen-Chen
authors.forename: F F
authors.initials: FF
authors.lastname: Chou
authors.forename: Y S
authors.initials: YS
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: M J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: F C
authors.initials: FC
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: J J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Y L
authors.initials: YL
authors.lastname: Wan
mesh_terms: D000230:Adenocarcinoma / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D005743:Gastrectomy; D005773:Gastroscopy; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D013274:Stomach Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D015996:Survival Rate; D013624:Taiwan / Q000453:epidemiology