Radical gastrectomy for cancer of the stomach.

Carcinoma of the stomach remains one of the most common causes of cancer deaths in the world. The only treatment to offer hope for cure or long-term palliation is surgery. Optimal surgical resection requires an adequate margin of normal tissue around the tumor,dissection of perigastric lymph nodes, and en-bloc removal of organs involved by direct extension. Extended lymphadenectomy has not been shown to offer survival advantage in the West.