Cancer of the esophagus: ten years' experience.

The paper reports the authors' ten-year experience of the surgical treatment of cancer of the esophagus. A total of 625 patients with esophageal carcinoma were observed during the period 1980-89 of whom 490 were admitted to hospital and, of the latter, 172 (35.1%) were operated with a sectile rate of 86% (148 patients). Data from this period were analysed both retrospectively and prospectively using a computerised system. There were 105 radical operations (70.9%) and 43 palliative operations (29.1%). The 3-year actuarial survival rate was 21.7% and the difference between radical and palliative resections was at the limit of significance (p less than 0.1).