Postoperative fever predicts poor prognosis of gastric cancer

Data about prognostic value of postoperative fever in gastric cancer was lacking. Thus, the present study aims to investigate the prognostic value of postoperative fever in gastric cancer. From September 2008 to March 2015, 2938 gastric cancer patients were enrolled in the present study. Clinicopathological features were recoded. The association between postoperative fever and prognosis of gastric cancer were analyzed. There were 2294 male (78.1%) and 644 female (21.9%). Seven hundred and fifty-six patients suffered from fever. Among them, the duration of fever less than 48h occurred in 508 cases, and duration of fever over 48h occurred in 248 cases. Univariate and multivariate analysis showed that postoperative fever was an independent risk factor for prognosis of gastric cancer (P < 0.001). For the entire cohort, duration of fever over 48h was significantly associated with decreased survival (P < 0.001). In subgroup analysis, duration of fever over 48h was significantly associated with poor prognosis of stage I and II gastric cancer (both P < 0.001). However, postoperative fever was not associated with the prognosis of stage III gastric cancer (P = 0.334). Considering the type of gastrectomy, postoperative fever was not associated with the prognosis of patients with proximal (P = 0.318) and distal gastrectomy (P = 0.806), but duration of fever over 48h was significantly associated with poor prognosis of patients with total gastrectomy (P = 0.004). In conclusion, postoperative fever was associated with poor prognosis of gastric cancer.