Surgery for gastric cancer in patients older than 80 years of age

Although the number of elderly patients who undergo surgery for gastric cancer has increased in recent years, the clinical features associated with this group of patients, including their postoperative survival rate, remain unclear.

The cases of 50 patients > or = 80 years of age (the older group) with gastric cancer who underwent surgical treatment in our Department from January 1988 to December 1995 were reviewed and compared to the records of 239 patients < or = 60 years of age (the younger group) who had surgery during the same time period.

The incidence of advanced gastric cancer in the older versus younger groups was 59.6% versus 27.9%, respectively (p < 0.01). The tumor size was significantly larger in the older group. The tumor location in the older group predominantly involved the upper third of the stomach, while in the younger group, the middle third of the stomach was primarily involved. Histologically, the incidence of differentiated tumor types was 65.1% versus 50.5% (p < 0.05), and undifferentiated types, 34.9% versus 49.5% (p < 0.05), in the older and younger groups, respectively. Retrospective comparisons conducted between the older and younger groups revealed the following: curative resectability rate: 52.0% versus 74.5% (p < 0.01); hospital mortality rate: 2% versus 0%; overall 5-year survival rate: 46.1% versus 71.1% (p < 0.01); and a 5-year survival rate in patients who underwent curative resection of 65.0% versus 88.8% in the older versus younger age groups, respectively.

These results suggest that the survival of elderly patients with gastric cancer is worse than that of younger patients because of a lower curative resection rate of the advanced cancer. However, the survival rate in elderly patients is identical to that in younger patients if a curative resection is performed.