Surgical and long-term oncologic outcomes of laparoscopic and open gastrectomy for serosa-positive (pT4a) gastric cancer: A propensity score-matched analysis.

BACKGROUND

To date, it has been unclear whether laparoscopic gastrectomy (LG) is suitable for patients with serosa-positive (pT4a) gastric cancer. The purpose of this study was to compare the surgical and long-term oncologic outcomes of LG and open gastrectomy for pT4a gastric cancer.

METHODS

We prospectively collected data from 987 patients with pathological confirmed pT4a gastric cancer who underwent LG or OG at our institution between June 2009 and May 2015. A 1:1 matched propensity score matching (PSM) analysis was performed to reduce confounding bias. The primary outcome was 5-year overall survival (OS).

RESULTS

After PSM, a well-balanced cohort of 202 pairs patients was analyzed. The LG group showed a longer operation time (261.42 vs. 171.00 min, P = 0.001), less blood loss (185.47 vs. 217.84 ml, P = 0.000), and shorter postoperative hospital stay (7.56 vs. 8.22 days, P = 0.007). The overall complication rate was 14.4% in the LG group and 16.3% in the OG group (P = 0.581). The minor (grade II) and severe (grade ≥ IIIa) complication rates were similar (LG, 6.9% vs. OG, 9.9%, P = 0.282; LG, 7.4% vs. OG, 6.4%, P = 0.695, respectively). The LG and OG groups showed similar survival 5-year OS and 5-year Disease-free survival (DFS) rates (44.6% vs. 42.1%, P = 0.403; 40.1 vs. 37.6%, P = 0.321, respectively). The recurrence rate and pattern did not differ between the two groups during the follow-up stage (P > 0.05).

CONCLUSIONS

For patients with pT4a gastric cancer, LG with D2 lymph node dissection can be a safe and feasible procedure in terms of surgical and long-term oncologic outcomes.