Three cases of cancer of the stomach cured by rese

Authors: Alfred R Parsons

Publish Date: 2008/10/19

Volume: 24, Issue: 4, Pages: 179-

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Abstract

4 The three cases are claimed as cures owing to the long period of forty years in the first case and over fourteen years in the second and third cases without any evidence of recurrence Emphasis is laid on the absence of free hydrochloric acid in these three successful cases as negativing the statement in a modern surgical textbook that the examination of the gastric juice by test meal is usually valueless for by the time free hydrochloric acid is absent the disease will be inoperable This statement is also in conflict with the work of an American physician who regards achlorhydria or marked hypochlorhydria as an early sign of gastric carcinoma The presence of a palpable tumour in cases 1 and 2 and also in case 3 of a tumour easily palpable on exploration but clinically concealed behind the costal arch is also in opposition to a statement in the same textbook that the presence of a palpable tumour is a late sign and usually indicative of advanced disease too late for resection5 Stress is laid on the allimportance of early diagnosis if successful resection is to be carried out but the cases now recorded which could not be considered as early are reported as a justification for exploration and in the absence of any secondary deposits afford a reasonable hope of successful resection

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