Intraoperative radiotherapy of gastric cancer

In order to increase the cure rate of gastric cancer, an intraoperative irradiation technique has been developed and applied to 38 patients with this disease. The resectable lesions are treated by surgical procedures, and the remaining malignant remnants sterilized by irradiation with a single massive dose during laparotomy. In this radiotherapy, radiation damage to normal structures is minimized, since normal organs adjacent to the tumor can be shifted from the field so that the lesion may be exposed directly to radiation. The results were analyzed according to stages of the disease and doses delivered. Our clinical results have shown that cure can be expected following intraoperative irradiation of unresectable remnants around major blood vessels, such as the hepatic artery and celiac axis. A single dose of 3500 rad of an electron beam seems to be sufficient as a cancerocidal dose. Indications for intraoperative radiotherapy of gastric cancer are discussed.