A retrospective analysis of 453 patients with carcinoma of the oesophagus and gastric cardia was carried out in order to identify the incidence, operative findings, and outcome of patients who underwent laparotomy only without a definitive procedure. Of 343 patients who underwent surgery, 81% had their tumours resected and 15% had a bypass procedure. The remaining 14 patients (4%) had an exploratory laparotomy alone. The incidence of performing a laparotomy only was 1.5% for patients with carcinoma of the thoracic oesophagus but was 14% for patients with tumour of the gastric cardia (P less than 0.001). The reasons for exploration alone in these 14 patients were advanced local disease (12), bilobar liver metastases (seven), extensive abdominal lymph node metastases (seven), peritoneal seedlings (six) and malignant ascites (four). All except one patient had more than one feature which led to the decision of exploration only. As the overall incidence of exploratory laparotomy was low, it would not be appropriate for all patients to undergo exhaustive and expensive investigations. Surgical exploration continues to be the only reliable method to determine the actual extent of disease and whether a definitive procedure is possible. However, patients with cancer of the cardia with clinical features of advanced disease might warrant additional evaluations as the incidence of exploratory laparotomy alone with minimal prior investigation is relatively high.