Sarcoma of the stomach

Abstract

During the twenty-six-year period from 1932 to 1957, fifty patients with gastric sarcoma were encountered on the pavilion service of The New York Hospital. Of the fifty sarcomas, thirty-seven were lymphomas, eleven were leiomyosarcomas, one a fibrosarcoma and one myxosarcoma. During the same period, a total of 670 malignant gastric neoplasms were encountered so that sarcoma represents 7.4 per cent of malignant gastric lesions [5,7]. The clinical and laboratory findings seldom led to the correct diagnosis before operation. Thirty-two of thirty-seven patients with malignant gastric lymphoma were subjected to definitive surgical removal of the neoplasms. There were two deaths after operation. Thirteen patients have survived for five years or longer which represents 59 per cent of those who are eligible for computation of five-year survival rates. Of the remaining thirteen patients with malignant gastric sarcomas, twelve were subjected to surgical intervention. There was one death after operation. Six patients survived for more than five years; one died of recurrence six years after operation. Thus, for the entire series of fifty patients, nineteen patients survived for five years or longer. The prognosis for patients with sarcoma of the stomach is considerably better than for those with carcinoma [2,6]. Roentgen therapy is recommended for those patients who are found to have gastric lymphoma but not for patients with other types of gastric sarcoma.