[Is perioperative chemotherapy effective in patients with resectable gastric cancer?]

Surgical procedures with curative intention have poor long-term results in patients with resectable gastric cancer. Searching in Epistemonikos database, which is maintained by screening 19 databases, we identified four systematic reviews including two pertinent randomised studies overall. We combined the evidence using meta-analysis and generated a summary of findings table following the GRADE approach. We conclude that the addition of perioperative chemotherapy to surgical resection increases survival in gastric cancer, probably in an important magnitude, and may not increase perioperative morbidity and mortality.