Factors predicting survival of patients with gastric cancer

Gastric cancer is one of the most common causes of cancer death in Taiwan. The literature has previously shown that age, tumor site, T categories, and number of metastatic nodes significantly affect prognosis. The aim of this study was to determine the long-term survival of patients with gastric cancer, as well as the effect of particular prognostic factors on survival.

This was a survival analysis study with retrospective design. We reviewed the records of 64 patients with adenocarcinoma of the stomach who had undergone gastrectomy with curative intent between 2009 and 2012 at a teaching hospital in southern Taiwan. Data extracted from patient documents included age, gender distribution, tumor location, and pathological grading.

The median follow-up time was 4 years, and there were 31 deaths attributed to gastric cancer. Kaplan-Meier analysis revealed that retrieval of less than 15 lymph nodes from a patient was a significant predictor of survival. A significant predictor of poorer survival was higher pathological grading.

Our results indicate that the number of lymph nodes retrieved and pathological grading could be viewed as crucial prognostic factors affecting the survival of individuals with gastric cancer.