A CLINICOPATHOLOGICAL STUDY OF GASTRIC-CARCINOMA WITH REFERENCE TO AGE OF PATIENTS

We carried out a clinicopathologic study on gastric carcinomas excised from 36 young (< 40 years), 34 elderly (61 or 62 years), and 34 aged (greater than or equal to 80 years) patients. The young group was char acterized by long duration (6.9 months) of epigastric pain (64%), tumo r 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 lime (136 min), blood transfusion (74%), tumor location in the lower stomach (59%), an d noncurative operation (47%), mainly because of locally advanced dise ase (59%). The 5-year survival rate in the aged (40%) was much lower t han that in the young (72%) and elderly (67%). However, the 5-year sur vival rate for curatively treated patients did not differ among the yo ung (85%), elderly (81%), and the aged (74%). Thus, gastric carcinomas in the young were mostly of the undifferentiated type resembling pept ic ulcers, and resection led to a good prognosis. Aged patients with g astric carcinoma often had preexisting clinical disorders and locally advanced diseases; the limited feasibility of surgical excision someti mes led to a less satisfactory outcome.