Surgical and interventional palliative treatment of upper gastrointestinalmalignancies

Malignancies of the upper gastrointestinal tract, including the oesophagus, stomach, liver, bile ducts and pancreas, are highly virulent diseases. Whi le curative therapies relieve symptoms caused by these cancers, most of the se treatments prove unsuccessful in the control of tumour due to occult res idual disease. This review covers only planned palliative procedures for th ese conditions where patient factors (e.g. performance status or patient wi shes) or tumour factors (e.g. locally advanced or known metastatic disease) prevent potentially curative intervention. For most patients, palliation o f luminal obstruction, pain or other symptoms is the most worthwhile treatm ent that can be offered with present therapies. (C) 2000 Lippincott William s & Wilkins.