[Radical nature and life expectancy in the surgical treatment of esophageal and cardial carcinoma].

Fifty-four patients with carcinoma of the oesophagus and cardia were selected to have either a two-cavity radical operation or blunt oesophagectomy without thoracotomy. Squamous-cell carcinomas were randomized for postoperative radiotherapy or none. Neither the two-cavity radical operation nor additional radiotherapy prolonged life expectancy. The results cast doubt on the effectiveness of local radical or curative surgery for carcinoma of the oesophagus and cardia. The only objective in the choice of treatment must be to decrease operative mortality and to make the course of the disease tolerable to the patient.