Clinical study to identify specific characteristics of cancer newly developed in the remnant stomach.
BACKGROUND
Cancer newly developed in the remnant stomach (CRS) after partial gastrectomy is worthy of attention not only because it is a typical model of carcinogenesis but also from the aspect of cancer diagnosis.


METHODS
We treated 47 patients with CRS in the 20 years from 1979 to 1998. Clinicopathological variables, as well as long-term survival results after the second surgery, were reviewed to clarify whether there were any differences in the characteristics of this disease entity compared with the usual primary gastric cancer.


RESULTS
The mean time interval between the initial surgery and surgery for CRS was 25.8 years for patients with CRS with previous benign gastric lesions, and 10.6 years for those with previous gastric cancer. CRS was frequently detected at an early stage in the patients with previous cancer, and in the patients who had undergone reconstruction by the Billroth I method (regardless of the primary nature of the disease). Cancers with a differentiated histology developed more frequently in the patients who had undergone the initial surgery for cancer disease. Long-term survival results after the second surgery clearly demonstrated that surgical treatment for CRS was as effective as that for primary cancer in the upper stomach (PUC). In addition, it was confirmed that new lymphatic drainage into the lower mediastinum or the jejunal mesentery had developed after the initial gastric surgery.


CONCLUSIONS
The findings suggested that patients with CRS and those with PUC should be treated similarly, although the findings of a high incidence of lymph node metastasis to the lower mediastinum and/or to the jejunal mesentery in the CRS patients should be taken into consideration.
Tanigawa
Nobuhiko
N
Department of General and Gastroenterological Surgery, Osaka Medical College, Takatsuki City, Osaka 569-6868, Japan.
Nomura
Eiji
E
Niki
Masami
M
Shinohara
Hisashi
H
Nishiguchi
Kanji
K
Okuzawa
Masaaki
M
Toyoda
Masao
M
Morita
Shinsho
S
D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D005743:Gastrectomy; D018530:Gastric Stump; D006801:Humans; D008197:Lymph Node Excision; D008207:Lymphatic Metastasis; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009364:Neoplasm Recurrence, Local / Q000601:surgery; D012086:Reoperation; D013274:Stomach Neoplasms / Q000209:etiology* / Q000401:mortality / Q000601:surgery; D015996:Survival Rate