Prediction of survival period for patients with postoperative recurrence after curative resection for advanced gastric carcinoma.

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Although many studies have attempted to clarify the prognostic indicators for gastric carcinoma, there have been few studies regarding the factors that correlate with the survival period of patients with postoperative recurrence.

METHODOLOGY

Among 504 advanced gastric adenocarcinoma patients who had undergone curative gastrectomy, 188 patients who had died of recurrence were used in this study.

RESULTS

Univariate analysis indicated that age, the presence of lymph node metastasis and blood vessel invasion, the number of positive lymph nodes, and gastrectomy significantly correlated with the survival period. Multivariate analysis indicated that the length of the survival period was independently influenced by the number of positive lymph nodes and blood vessel invasion. The survival time of patients with less than 3 positive lymph nodes and no accompanying blood vessel invasion was significantly longer than that of other patients.

CONCLUSIONS

The number of positive lymph nodes and the presence of blood vessel invasion are the most important factors predicting the survival period of patients with postoperative recurrence after curative resection for advanced gastric carcinoma.