Outlook after surgical treatment

Outlook after surgical treatment

The outlook after surgical treatment varies considerably between the West and Japan. In Japan, approximately 75% of patients will have a curative resection and, of these, the overall 5-year survival rate is 50–70%. In contrast, in the West most series show that only 25–50% of patients undergoing surgery will have a curative operation and the 5-year survival rate in such patients is only about 25–30%, although in some series it approaches Japanese levels. A combination of di ff erences in staging and a higher standard of surgery in Japan probably accounts for the di ff erences. Staging is clearly crucial when survival figures are being compared and, therefore, stage for stage the outcome seems better in patients who are adequately staged pathologically . This phenomenon is termed ‘stage migration’.