Does gastrojejunostomy for unresectable cancer of the gastric antrum offersatisfactory palliation?

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Gastrojejunostomy is the procedure of choice for patients with obstruction or stenosis of the gastric outlet or duodenum. However, th e palliative benefits of this procedure in gastric cancer remain uncertain. Thus, the present study was performed to address this problem. METHODOLOGY: In the present study, 52 patients who had undergone gastrojeju nostomy for unresectable cancer of the gastric antrum at Kitasato Universit y Hospital and Kitasato University East Hospital in Japan between 1972 and 1994 were examined. RESULTS: The median survival time in these 52 patients was 5.0 months. The duration of palliation ranged from 0-13 months, with an average of 2.8 mont hs. No significant difference between clinicopathologic factors and duratio n of palliation was found and location of tumor was the only independent pr ognostic factor (coefficient: 0.890; hazard ratio: 2.435). CONCLUSIONS: Although gastrojejunostomy for unresectable cancer of the gast ric antrum is the procedure most often chosen at laparotomy, the palliative benefits of gastrojejunostomy do not sufficiently compensate for the patie nts' limited post-operative survival and quality of life.