Total Versus Subtotal Gastrectomy for Signet Ring Cell Carcinoma of the Stomach

Objective: To determine the adequate surgery type for the treatment of signet ring cell of stomach in terms of postoperative complications and survival. Study Design: Comparative analytical study. Place and Duration of Study: Baskent University Adana Teaching and Research Center, Adana, Turkey, between 2006 and 2015. Methodology: A total of 46 patients with the diagnosis of gastric signet ring cell, who underwent total or subtotal gastrectomy, were enrolled in this study. Patients were compared according to age, gender, tumor location, TNM stage, survival and mortality rates, operation time, complication and recurrence. Comparisons between groups were performed by using Mann-Whitney U-test for the data not normally distributed. The categorical data were analyzed by using the Chi-square test or Fisher's exact test, where applicable. Kaplan-Meier test was used for survival curve and Long-rank test was used for survival differences between groups. Values of p < 0.05 were considered statistically for all tests. Results: Of the 46 patients, 29 (63.0%) were male. The mean age was 56.6 +/- 13.2 years. The median tumor size was 5.0 cm (IQR: 3.0-6.6). Twenty-six (56.5%) patients were in total gastrectomy, whereas 20 (43.5%) were in subtotal gastrectomy group. Five-year cumulative survival rate was 0.487. Five-year overall survival rate for early and advanced signet ring cell carcinoma was 0.830 and 0.164, respectively (p<0.001). Five-year overall survival rate for total and subtotal gastrectomy groups were 0.422 and 0.582, respectively (P=0.417). Complications were observed in 17.4% (n=8) of all 46 patients. Conclusion: Subtotal gastrectomy can be performed safely for patients with gastric signet ring cell carcinoma and is equal to total gastrectomy with respect to prognosis and complication rates.