The cumulative 5-year survival rates in the case material of the years 1979-1983 with endoscopically-histologically confirmed gastric carcinoma were compared to those of the 1974-1978 period, particularly with reference to operative therapy and the histological type of carcinoma. The percentage of curatively operated patients increased from 40.6 to 49.7%, the rate of non-operated patients fell from 42.5 to 22.4%. The histological evaluation revealed a rise in the percentage of the adenocarcinoma from 37.1 to 53.5%-while the percentage of the solid carcinoma decreased from 29.1 to 15.5%. Following curative therapy, the calculated cumulative 5-year survival rate rose from 35.6 to 51.8% in men, however, fell from 66.2 to 48.3% in women. Most recent investigations showed men with curatively operated adenocarcinoma to have the best survival rate (60.6%); in women, this is true of mixed-type carcinoma.