Duarte Stomach Tumor Excised but Diseased Liver Is Inoperable

Surgeons Tuesday removed a cancerous tumor from the stomach of Salvadoran President Jose Napoleon Duarte but could not operate on his diseased liver, and his personal doctor said the Salvadoran president might die in months.

The liver tumor “will keep growing and that will be the cause of his death,” Dr. Benjamin Interiano said.

“It is impossible to predict how long (Duarte will live), but I would put it at a matter of months,” he said.

Interiano said that doctors at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center removed all of the tumor from Duarte’s stomach along with two-thirds of the stomach.

“We have not cured him, but we have improved his life for the future,” the doctor said, suggesting that the operation would make the 62-year-old Duarte more comfortable in the months ahead.

‘Impossible to Remove’

He said the cancer had to be left in the liver because “it is impossible to remove it.”

Interiano said he believes Duarte will be able to return to El Salvador in two or three weeks.

Duarte’s physician said there was some concern near the end of the 2 1/2-hour operation when the president began to breath abnormally. But he recovered.

“At the end of the operation there was a respiratory depression,” Interiano said. “The president was not breathing normally. But there was a team there working with him and that was resolved.”

He said Duarte was resting comfortably after the operation.

The removal of the stomach cancer will make Duarte more comfortable both by relieving pain and the danger of stomach bleeding, he said.

“What we found was the best we could have--part of the stomach is left,” the physician said. “He will be able to lead a relatively normal life, except that he will have to eat smaller portions of food.”

The doctor said the tumor in Duarte’s stomach was about 2 1/2 inches in diameter. He added that the cancer had spread to several points on both lobes of the president’s liver.

Chemotherapy After Surgery

The hospital issued a statement later saying Duarte would probably be treated with chemotherapy after recuperation from surgery.

“Surgeons say that President Duarte tolerated surgery well and the surgery should have a positive effect on his overall health and life span,” the hospital said.

Duarte was flown to Washington last Tuesday suffering from what was identified as a tumor in his stomach.