Survival in gastric cancer in relation to postoperative adjuvant therapy and determinants

AIM: To evaluate survival data in patients with gastric cancer in relation to postoperative adjuvant therapy and survival determinantsMETHODS: A total of 201 patients(mean ± SD age: 56.0 ± 11.9 years, 69.7% were males) with gastric carcinoma who were operated and followed up at Lutfi Kirdar Kartal Training and Research Hospital between 1998 and 2010 were included in this retrospective study. Follow up was evaluated divided into two consecutive periods(before 2008 and 2008-2010, respectively) based on introduction of 3-D conformal technique in radiotherapy at our clinic in 2008. Data on patient demographics, clinical and histopathological characteristics of gastric carcinoma and the type of treatment applied after surgery [postoperative adjuvant treatment protocols including chemoradiotherapy(CRT) and chemotherapy(CT), supportive therapy or follow up without any treatment] were recorded. The median duration and determinants of local recurrence free(LRF) survival, distant metastasis free(DMF) survival and overall survival were evaluated in the overall population as well as with respect to follow up years [1998-2008(n = 127) vs 2008-2010(n = 74)].RESULTS: Median duration for LRF survival, DMF survival and overall survival were 31.9, 24.1 and 31.9 mo, respectively in patients with postoperative adjuvant CRT. No significant difference was noted in median duration for LRF survival, DMF survival and overall survival with respect to treatment protocols in the overall population and also with respect to followed up periods. In the overall population, CT protocols FUFA [5-fluorouracil(400 mg/m2) and leucovorin-folinic acid(FA, 20 mg/m2)](29.9 mo) and UFT + Antre [a fixed combination of the oral FU prodrug tegafur(flouroprymidine, FT, 300 mg/m2 per day) with FA(Antrex?), 15 mg tablet, two times a day](42.5 mo) was significantly associated with longer LRF survival times than other CT protocols(P = 0.036), while no difference was noted between CT protocols in terms of DMF survival and overall survival. Among patients received CRT, overall survival was significantly longer in patients with negative than positive surgical margin(27.7 mo vs 22.4 mo, P = 0.016) in the overallstudy population, while time of radiotherapy initiation had no significant impact on survival times. Nodal stage was determined to be independent predictor of LRF survival in the overall study population with 4.959 fold(P = 0.042) increase in mortality in patients with nodal stage N2 compared to patients with nodal stage N0, and independent predictor of overall survival with 5.132 fold(P = 0.006), 5.263 fold(P = 0.027) and 4.056 fold(P = 0.009) increase in the mortality in patients with nodal stage N3a(before 2008), N3b(before 2008) and N2(overall study population) when compared to patients with N0 stage, respectively.CONCLUSION: Our findings emphasize the likelihood of postoperative adjuvant CRT to have a survival benefit in patients with resectable gastric carcinoma.