title: Recent advances in surgical treatment have improved the survival of patients with gastric carcinoma.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Mortality resulting from gastric carcinoma is decreasing. This is mainly due to vigorous endoscopic screening and the consequent higher incidence of early detection of the disease. In this study, to evaluate the effect of surgical treatment on the prognoses of patients with gastric carcinoma, the survival of 1579 patients who underwent gastrectomy between 1970 and 1994 was retrospectively analyzed.
  
  
  METHODS
  The patients were divided into 5 groups at 5-year intervals. Postoperative survival was compared among the groups.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Postoperative survival was significantly improved in the later groups for patients with Stage I, II, III, and IV disease. A multivariate analysis of prognostic factors revealed that the time period during which the gastrectomy was performed was an independent predictor of survival.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  It was concluded that survival has been improved by recent advances in the surgical approach to gastric carcinoma.
authors.affiliation: First Department of Surgery, Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine, Japan.
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Otsuji
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Yamaguchi
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Sawai
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hagiwara
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Taniguchi
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Takahashi
mesh_terms: D002277:Carcinoma / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000401:mortality* / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D005069:Evaluation Studies as Topic; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D011379:Prognosis; D012307:Risk Factors; D013274:Stomach Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000401:mortality* / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D015996:Survival Rate