title: A clinicopathologic study of gastric carcinoma with reference to age of patients.
abstract: We carried out a clinicopathologic study on gastric carcinomas excised from 36 young (< 40 years), 34 elderly (61 or 62 years), and 34 aged (> or = 80 years) patients. The young group was characterized by long duration (6.9 months) of epigastric pain (64%), tumor location rarely along the lesser curvature (31%), grossly depressed type in early stage (100%), and histologically undifferentiated type (92%). The aged group was characterized by preexisting disorders (85%), limited lymph node dissection (74%), short operative time (136 min), blood transfusion (74%), tumor location in the lower stomach (59%), and noncurative operation (47%), mainly because of locally advanced disease (59%). The 5-year survival rate in the aged (40%) was much lower than that in the young (72%) and elderly (67%). However, the 5-year survival rate for curatively treated patients did not differ among the young (85%), elderly (81%), and the aged (74%). Thus, gastric carcinomas in the young were mostly of the undifferentiated type resembling peptic ulcers, and resection led to a good prognosis. Aged patients with gastric carcinoma often had preexisting clinical disorders and locally advanced diseases; the limited feasibility of surgical excision sometimes led to a less satisfactory outcome.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Hiroshima Red Cross and Atomic Bomb Survivors' Hospital, Japan.
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Adachi
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ogawa
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Sasaki
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yukaya
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mori
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Sugimachi
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D013274:Stomach Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D015996:Survival Rate