Adenocarcinoma of the cardia: the choice of surgical treatment

The ideal surgical treatment for adenocarcinoma of the cardia is still controversial. Out of 168 consecutive patients resected in a 10-year period, 98 underwent esophagogastric resection (EGR) and 70 total gastrectomy with esophageal resection (TGER). Early and long-term results were compared in order to define specific indications for both surgical procedures. Abdominal nodes were metastatic in 62% of the cases; mediastinal nodes were metastatic in 20.3% of 138 thoracotomized patients. Neoplastic permeation of the section margin occurred in 4.7% of the patients. No positive section margins were found in the cases with 10 cm or more of uninvolved esophagus resected. The superiority of the thoracoabdominal approach was therefore evident in terms of oncologic radicality. Anastomotic leakages occurred in 13.3% of EGR and in 7.1% of TGER patients. No correlation between the stage of the tumor or the neoplastic permeation of the section margin and the incidence of leak was found. Operative mortality was 7.1% after EGR and 10% after TGER, which may suggest that EGR is the procedure of choice in poor-risk and elderly patients. Loco-regional or systemic neoplastic recurrence was responsible for long-term mortality in 70% of the cases. Anastomotic recurrence was found in 12.2% of EGR patients and in 1.4% of TGER patients. Overall five-year survival was 19.1%. Mean survival was 29.5 months, 30 after EGR and 27 after TGER (p = NS).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS