Lower survival rate for patients with carcinoma of the stomach of Borrmann type IV after gastric resection

Between 1965 and 1985, 194 of 1,113 patients (17.4 percent) with advanced carcinoma of the stomach who underwent gastric resection had Borrmann type IV carcinoma of the stomach, a macroscopically evident and diffusely spreading tumor. These patients tended to be younger and female and to have larger tumors that involved the entire stomach, as compared with patients with other types of carcinomas. Tissues were commonly undifferentiated, serosal invasion was prominent with infiltrative growth and high rates of metastasis to the lymph nodes and peritoneal dissemination were evident. In most instances, the disease was advanced; therefore, total gastrectomy was performed upon 82.0 percent of the patients and a palliative resection was done in 64.4 percent. The survival rate was lower than for patients with carcinoma of the stomach of other types (p<0.01). A multivariate analysis indicated that curative resection is an independent favorable prognostic event, while other factors are dependent covariates. Early detection of this carcinoma is crucial to extend survival time of patients with Borrmann type IV carcinoma of the stomach. Aggressive postoperative chemotherapy should be considered when a noncurative resection is done.