Stomach cancer--is it a lost cause?
A retrospective study of 7 years of endoscopy at Trafford General Hospital from 1986-1993 identified 143 patients diagnosed as having gastric cancer, of whom 13 cases were identified as early gastric cancer. Epigastric pain was the main symptom (66%) of those presenting with resectable disease. Weight loss (70%) was the most common symptom of patients presenting with advanced disease. Forty-seven patients had no surgery and 25 had palliative non-resective surgery. These two groups account for 50% of cases. With such a small detection rate of early gastric cancer and consequent curative surgery rate one must debate whether treatment of stomach cancer in the Trust hospital of the future is a lost cause.
Humphreys
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Department of Clinical Studies, Trafford General Hospital, Manchester, UK.
Kingston
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Robinson
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D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D005260:Female; D005743:Gastrectomy / Q000379:methods; D005773:Gastroscopy; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013274:Stomach Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000601:surgery; D016019:Survival Analysis; D016896:Treatment Outcome