TNM T2, N2, M0 or T3, N1, M0 or T4, N0, M0 (Stage IIIA)
T3, N2, M0 or T4, N1, M0 (Stage IIIB)
The cancer involves tissues adjacent to the stomach and/or the lymph nodes very close to the tumor or in the region around the stomach.
Standard Treatment Cancer at this stage is treatable but not usually curable. All patients whose tumors can be removed should have surgery, but radical surgery for cure is limited to those who do not have extensive lymph node involvement at the time of exploratory surgery. Up to 17 percent of selected patients can be cured by surgery alone if the lymph nodes involved are confined to the immediate vicinity of the tumor (N1).
Overall survival is poor with either single or combined approaches to treatment, so all newly diagnosed patients with Stage III cancer should be considered candidates for clinical trials of new treatments.
Five-Year Survival 17 percent for distal cancers
Investigational
• Radiation therapy and/or adjuvant chemotherapy is being evaluated in patients with known residual disease or
