One hundred sixty papers on gastric cancer in the Journal of Korean Surgical Society published from 1980 to 1994 were reviewed. Forty four papers including 5 year survival rate were selected for final analysis. These papers were divided into 3
groups
chronologically; group A (1980-1984, n=7), Group B(1985-1989, n=17), an GroupC (1990-1994, n=20).
The number of papers with accurate description of TNM stage were: 3(42%) out of 7 in group A, 2(11%) out of 17 in group B, and 8(40%) out of 20 in group C. the number of papers correctly classified according to the intention of the resection were
:
4(57%) out of 7 in group A, 9(55%) out of 17 in group B, and 13(65%) out of 20 in group C. the papers with correct classification according to the extent of lymph node dissection were merely 4(9.1%) out of 44. Among the papers reporting adjuvant
therapy
was administered, 1(50%) out of 2 in group A, 4(57%) out of 7 in group B, and 2(40%) out of 5 in group C correctly suggested the indication and method of the therapy, the papers reporting the follow up rate were 6(86%) in group A and 14(88.2%) in
group
B, and 12(60%) in group C. the number of papers correctly classified according to the cause of death were : 1(14%) out of 7 in group A, 1(6%) out of 17 in group B, and 1(5%) out of 20 in group C. maximum follow up rate was 88.7%k in group A,
96.5%
in
group B, and 99% in group C. Minimum follow up rate was 74.8% in group A, 45% in group B and 158% in group C. the papers with the description of both the calculating method of survival rate and the test of significance were not found in group A
and
B,
but were found in 7 papers (35%) of troup C. Out of 44 investigated papers, only 2(4.5%) have complete description on stage, intention of resection, extent of lymph node dissection, adjuvant therapy, follow up rate, and statistical method.
In reporting the therapeutic outcome of cancer patients, criteria listed above must be complete in order to compare the survival rates of treatment results in different studies. With this information the effective strategy for future clinical
treatment
can be planned.
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