Survival rates and prognosis of gastric cancer using an actuarial life-table method

The aim of this study was to calculate survival rates and analyze patterns of survival in gastric cancer.

A total number of 746 patients with gastric cancer registered in the Cancer Registry Center of Research Center of Gastroenterology and Liver Disease of Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Iran, from Dec 21, 2001 to Dec 21, 2006 were investigated. 1- to 5-year survival rates were estimated using life-table method and compared by Wilcoxon (Gehan) test. P<0.05 was considered as statistically significant. All calculations were carried out with SPSS (version 13.0) statistical software.

There were 530 male patients with a mean age of 60.5+/-12.6 years and 216 females with a mean age of 57.5+/-13.5 years. Of the total, 454 died and 285 were censored during the investigation. The median survival time was 24.2 months and survival rates at one, two, third, fourth and five years after diagnosis were 73.6, 50.2, 40.6, 33.2 and 29.7%, respectively. Stages of tumor, histology grade, histologic type of cancer, tumor size, age at diagnosis and surgery approach were independent prognostic factors . However, variables such as sex (P=.533), body mass index (P=.214), ethnicity (P=.092), and level of education (P=.762) did not shown significant effects on survival.

Early detection of patients at lower age and with primary stages and grades of tumor is important to increase patient's life expectancy.