Prognostic significance of peritoneal washing cytology in patients with potentially resectable gastric cancer.
OBJECTIVE
The prognostic value of cytological examination of intraoperative washings in potentially resectable gastric cancer is controversial.


METHODS
Between February 1993 and August 2001, clinicopathological features and surgical outcome of 26 consecutive patients with gastric cancer with positive cytological findings of peritoneal washings without peritoneal dissemination were retrospectively analyzed.


RESULTS
The overall 1, 2, 3-year survival rates for 26 patients were 69%, 35%, and 0%, respectively. The median survival was 17.5 months. The median survival of patients with curative resection (n=16) and non-curative resection (n=10) was 19 months and 12.5 months, respectively. There was no significant difference in survival between curative resection and non-curative resection (p=0.10). Recurrent disease frequently occurred as peritoneal dissemination (69%). No patient survived for more than 34 months.


CONCLUSIONS
Aggressive surgical resections do not provide any survival benefit for gastric cancer with positive cytological findings of peritoneal washings even in the absence of peritoneal dissemination.
Nakagohri
Toshio
T
Department of Surgery, National Cancer Center Hospital East, 6-5-1 Kashiwanoha, Kashiwa 277-8577, Japan. tnakagor@east.ncc.go.jp
Yoneyama
Yasuo
Y
Kinoshita
Taira
T
Konishi
Masaru
M
Inoue
Kazuto
K
Takahashi
Shinichiro
S
D005260:Female; D005743:Gastrectomy; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010537:Peritoneum / Q000473:pathology*; D011379:Prognosis; D013274:Stomach Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality* / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery; D015996:Survival Rate