GASTRIC-CANCER IN THE PROVINCE OF ZARAGOZA (SPAIN) - A SURVIVAL STUDY

A study of the main prognostic factors and of the overall survival rat e of gastric cancer (GC) is presented. It covered 895 cases diagnosed histopathologically in the province of Zaragoza (Spain) over a ten-yea r period (1980-1989). The analysis of the survival rate was carried ou t according to the Kaplan-Meier method and the Mantel-Haenszel test. T he average overall survival rate of the sample was 6.5 months and the five-year survival rate was 16.5%. Lauren's intestinal histological ty pe is associated with a better prognosis (a five-year survival rate of 25%) than the diffuse type (15%). The survival rate with regard to ga stric wall invasion ranges from 78% for T1 tumors to 8% for T4 tumors (p < 0.0001). There are significant differences in survival rate betwe en the TNM classification stages, ranging from a five-year survival ra te of 77% for Stage I to 0% for Stage IV.