Gastrectomy for Metastatic Gastric Cancer: a 15-year Experience from a Developing Country

The role of surgery in the management of metastatic gastric cancer (MGC) remains unclear. The aim of this study was to investigate the surgical and oncologic outcomes of gastrectomy in patients with MGC. The study included prospectively collected data of patients with MGC operated at four medical centers in Yerevan, Armenia, between 2000 and 2014. Armenian National Center of Oncology Registry and hospital records were used to obtain survival data. Factors associated with performing gastrectomy in patients with MGC were analyzed by using the logistic regression model. The Kaplan-Meier method was applied for survival analysis, and the Cox regression model with backward selection was used for multivariate analysis. A total number of 733 patients were operated for gastric cancer including 112 (15.3%) with MGC. Of those, 70 underwent gastrectomy, while 42 had exploratory laparotomy or bypass. Morbidity and mortality were similar after gastrectomy and exploratory laparotomy/bypass (18.6 vs 21.4%, p = 0.71 and 2.9 vs 7.1% p = 0.36, respectively). Female gender, involvement of N1 and/or N2 lymph node stations, and differentiated adenocarcinoma were associated with opting for gastrectomy. Gastrectomy with synchronous resection of distant metastases resulted in postoperative outcomes similar to those following gastrectomy without synchronous organ resection. Median follow-up was 6 months. Eighteen (16.1%) patients received chemotherapy. Median survival following gastrectomy and exploratory laparotomy/bypass were 7 and 4 months (p = 0.015), respectively. The use of chemotherapy following gastrectomy significantly improved survival compared with gastrectomy only (14 vs 6 months, p = 0.01). In the multivariable analysis, chemotherapy and nodal stage correlated with survival after gastrectomy. Gastrectomy for MGC is associated with satisfactory surgical outcomes and can be combined with synchronous resection of distant metastases in selected patients. Gastrectomy results in longer survival compared with exploratory laparotomy/bypass, especially when followed by chemotherapy.