Subtotal Gastrectomy for Clinical Stage I Remnant Gastric Cancer

Subtotal gastrectomy (SG) is a surgical option for early remnant gastric cancer (RGC). However, reports evaluating the feasibility and oncological safety of SG for RGC are limited. Here, we aimed to evaluate the short- and long-term outcomes of SG for RGC.

We conducted a multi-institutional retrospective cohort study and compared the outcomes between SG and completion gastrectomy (CG) of patients with clinical stage I RGC. The short- and long-term outcomes, body weight change, and serum albumin level at 1 year postoperatively were evaluated.

Twenty-two and 202 patients in the SG and CG groups, respectively, were included in the analysis. The risk ratios (95% confidence interval [CI]) were 0.90 (0.27, 2.22) and 0.51 (0.33, 2.47) for the overall and severe complications, respectively. No anastomotic leakage was observed in the SG group, while 6.4% of the CG group had anastomotic leakage (p = 0.62). The 3-year relapse-free survival rates were 79.8% and 78.8% in the SG and CG groups, respectively (hazard ratio [95% CI], 0.87 [0.31, 2.40]; p = 0.80). The median body weight changes at 1 year postoperatively from the preoperative level were significantly less in the SG group (96.4% and 90.4% in the SG and CG groups, respectively; p = 0.021), and the median serum albumin changes at 1 year postoperatively were + 0.01 and -0.04 g/dL, respectively (p = 0.551).

SG might be one of the potential options for clinical stage I RGC, if the proximal margin is secured.