Surgical treatment of gastric cancer: a 10-year experience in a high-volume university hospital

OBJECTIVES: Surgery remains the cornerstone treatment modality for gastric cancer, the fifth most common type of tumor in Brazil. The aim of this study was to analyze the surgical treatment outcomes of patients with gastric cancer who were referred to a high-volume university hospital. METHODS: We reviewed all consecutive patients who underwent any surgical procedure due to gastric cancer from a prospectively collected database. Clinicopathological characteristics, surgical and survival outcomes were evaluated, with emphasis on patients treated with curative intent. RESULTS: From 2008 to 2017, 934 patients with gastric tumors underwent surgical procedures in our center. Gastric adenocarcinoma accounted for the majority of cases. Of the 875 patients with gastric adenocarcinoma, resection with curative intent was performed in 63.5%, and palliative treatment was performed in 22.4%. The postoperative surgical mortality rate for resected cases was 5.3% and was related to D1 lymphadenectomy and the presence of comorbidities. Analysis of patients treated with curative intent showed that resection extent, pT category, pN category and final pTNM stage were related to disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS). The DFS rates for D1 and D2 lymphadenectomy were similar, but D2 lymphadenectomy significantly improved the OS rate. Additionally, clinical factors and the presence of comorbidities had influence on the OS. CONCLUSIONS: TNM stage and the type of lymphadenectomy were independent factors related to prognosis. Early diagnosis should be sought to offer the optimal surgical approach in patients with less-advanced disease

INTRAPERITONEAL CHEMOTHERAPY FOR GASTRIC CANCER WITH PERITONEAL CARCINOMATOSIS: STUDY PROTOCOL OF A PHASE II TRIAL

ABSTRACT BACKGROUND: Peritoneal carcinomatosis in gastric cancer is considered a fatal disease, without expectation of definitive cure. As systemic chemotherapy is not sufficient to contain the disease, a multimodal approach associating intraperitoneal chemotherapy with surgery may represent an alternative for these cases. AIMS: The aim of this study was to investigate the role of intraperitoneal chemotherapy in stage IV gastric cancer patients with peritoneal metastasis. METHODS: This study is a single institutional single-arm prospective clinical trial phase II (NCT05541146). Patients with the following inclusion criteria undergo implantation of a peritoneal catheter for intraperitoneal chemotherapy: Stage IV gastric adenocarcinoma; age 18–75 years; Peritoneal carcinomatosis with peritoneal cancer index<12; Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group 0/1; good clinical status; and lab exams within normal limits. The study protocol consists of four cycles of intraperitoneal chemotherapy with paclitaxel associated with systemic chemotherapy. After treatment, patients with peritoneal response assessed by staging laparoscopy undergo conversion gastrectomy. RESULTS: The primary outcome is the rate of complete peritoneal response. Progression-free and overall survivals are other outcomes evaluated. The study started in July 2022, and patients will be screened for inclusion until 30 are enrolled. CONCLUSIONS: Therapies for advanced gastric cancer patients have been evaluated in clinical trials but without success in patients with peritoneal metastasis. The treatment proposed in this trial can be promising, with easy catheter implantation and ambulatory intraperitoneal chemotherapy regime. Verifying the efficacy and safety of paclitaxel with systemic chemotherapy is an important progress that this study intends to investigate

Impact of perioperative chemotherapy on surgical and pathological results of gastric cancer patients

Introdução: o Câncer de Estômago (CG) representa uma das principais causas de mortes por Câncer no mundo. A despeito dos avanços médicos, sua letalidade permanece alta. A Quimioterapia perioperatória (QTPeri) somada à cirurgia padrão, com linfadenectomia adequada, representa uma opção ao tratamento curativo para pacientes com câncer gástrico avançado (CG). Objetivo: avaliar, além de suas características clínicas e os resultados patológicas e cirúrgicos de pacientes com GC que receberam QTPeri, seu impacto na sobrevida. Métodos: trata-se de um estudo retrospectivo do tipo casocontrole, pareado cuja correspondência foi realizada com o uso de um protocolo 1:1 (pareamento simples), sendo escolhido o algoritmo mais próximo. O pareamento foi realizado sem reposição. Resultados: um total de 45 casos com QTPeri foi pareado com 45 pacientes submetidos à gastrectomia inicial para as seguintes características: sexo, idade, tipo de gastrectomia, extensão da linfadenectomia, ASA, tipo histológico, cT e cN. Os grupos QT-Peri e Cirurgia após pareamento, apresentavam características clínico-laboratoriais semelhantes, com exceção para a média da taxa de neutrófilos/linfócitos (4,38 vs. 1,65, p < 0,001), o grupo QT-Peri teve tumores menores (4,9 vs. 6,8 cm p = 0,006), menor taxa de invasão linfático (40% vs. 73,3%, p = 0,001), menor taxa de invasão venosa (17,8% vs. 46,7%, p = 0,003) e menor taxa de invasão perineural (35% vs. 77,8%, p < 0,0001). O grupo QT-Peri apresentou ainda predomínio de pT1/pT2 (44,4% vs. 6,7%, p < 0,001) e predomínio de pN0 (46,7% vs. 15,6%, p = 0,001). O grupo Cirurgia apresentou predomínio de complicações pós-operatórias maiores (grau III/IV e V de Clavien-Dindo) quando comparado ao grupo QT-Peri (24% vs. 6,7%, respectivamente, p = 0,02), bem como maior tempo de internação hospitalar (17 vs. 10,8 dias, p = 0,005). A sobrevida global, em 5 anos, estimada de toda população foi de 51,1%, e os pacientes no grupo QT-Peri apresentaram melhor sobrevida em comparação aos pacientes do grupo Cirurgia (p = 0,022). Conclusão: constatou-se uma influência positiva nos resultados patológicos e cirúrgicos dos pacientes submetidos a tratamento QTPeri, independente do esquema quimioterápico realizadoBackground: gastric Cancer (CG) represents one of the main causes of cancer deaths in the world. Despite medical advances, its lethality remains high. Perioperative chemotherapy (QTPeri) in addition to standard surgery, with adequate lymphadenectomy, represents an option for curative treatment for patients with advanced CG. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the clinical-pathological characteristics and surgical results of patients with CG who received QTPeri and its impact on survival. Methods: this is a retrospective case-control study, matching whose correspondence was performed using a 1: 1 correspondence protocol (simple pairing), with the closest algorithm being chosen. Pairing was performed without replacement. A total of 45 QT-Peri cases were matched with 45 patients who underwent initial gastrectomy for the following characteristics: sex, age, type of gastrectomy, extension of lymphadenectomy, ASA, histological type, cT and cN. Results: the QTPeri and Cirurgia groups, after pairing, had similar clinical laboratory characteristics, except for the median neutrophil / lymphocyte rate (4.38 vs. 1.65, P <0.001), the QTPeri group had smaller tumors (4, 9 vs. 6.8 cm P = 0.006), lower rate of lymphatic invasion (40% vs. 73.3%, P = 0.001), lower rate of venous invasion (18% vs 46.7%, P = 0.003) and lower perineural invasion rate (35% vs 77.8%, P <0.0001). There was also a predominance of pT1 / pT2 (44.4% vs. 6.7%, p <0.001) and a predominance of pN0 (46.7% vs. 15.6%, p = 0.001). The Cirurgia group showed a predominance of major postoperative complications (grade III / IV and V of Clavien-Dindo) when compared to the QT-Peri group (24% vs. 6.7%, respectively, P = 0.02), as well as a longer hospital stay (17 vs 10.8 days, P = 0.005). The estimated overall 5-year survival of the entire population was 51.1%, being 62% in the QT-Peri group and 40% in the Cirurgia group, there was a statistically significant difference between the two groups, with p = 0.037. Conclusion: in our study, a positive influence was observed on the pathological and surgical results of patients undergoing treatment with QTPeri, regardless of the chemotherapy regimen performe