Surgical outcomes after gastrectomy in very elderly patients with gastric cancer

Development and validation of a prognostic prediction model for elderly gastric cancer patients based on oxidative stress biochemical markers

BACKGROUND

The potential of the application of artificial intelligence and biochemical markers of oxidative stress to predict the prognosis of older patients with gastric cancer (GC) remains unclear.

METHODS

This retrospective multicenter study included consecutive patients with GC aged ≥ 65 years treated between January 2012 and April 2018. The patients were allocated into three cohorts (training, internal, and external validation). The GC-Integrated Oxidative Stress Score (GIOSS) was developed using Cox regression to correlate biochemical markers with patient prognosis. Predictive models for five-year overall survival (OS) were constructed using random forest (RF), decision tree (DT), and support vector machine (SVM) methods, and validated using area under the curve (AUC) and calibration plots. The SHapley Additive exPlanations (SHAP) method was used for model interpretation.

RESULTS

This study included a total of 1,859 older patients. The results demonstrated that a low GIOSS was a predictor of poor prognosis. RF was the most efficient method, with AUCs of 0.999, 0.869, and 0.796 in the training, internal validation, and external validation sets, respectively. The DT and SVM models showed low AUC values. Calibration and decision curve analyses demonstrated the considerable clinical usefulness of the RF model. The SHAP results identified pN, pT, perineural invasion, tumor size, and GIOSS as key predictive features. An online web calculator was constructed based on the best model.

CONCLUSIONS

Incorporating the GIOSS, the RF model effectively predicts postoperative OS in older patients with GC and is a robust prognostic tool. Our findings emphasize the importance of oxidative stress in cancer prognosis and provide a pathway for improved management of GC.

TRIAL REGISTRATION

Retrospectively registered at ClinicalTrials.gov (trial registration number: NCT06208046, date of registration: 2024-05-01).

Prognostic factors for gastric cancer patients aged ≥ 85 years

BACKGROUND

As gastric cancer patients aged ≥ 85 years have a short life expectancy and often die from other diseases such as pneumonia, indications for surgery are controversial. In this study, we retrospectively analyzed the prognostic factors of elderly patients with gastric cancer who are candidates for curative gastrectomy.

METHODS

Among 114 patients aged ≥ 85 years with gastric cancer at our hospital between 2010 and 2019, prognostic factors were examined using the Cox proportional hazards model in 76 patients excluding those with cStage IVB or endoscopic submucosal dissection. We also analyzed the factors of pneumonia death.

RESULTS

cStage was I/IIA/IIB/III/IVA in 37/6/14/14/5 patients, respectively. Treatment included distal gastrectomy in 28 patients, total gastrectomy in 6, local resection in 9, others in 3, and no surgery in 30. In univariate analyses of overall survival, Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group Performance Status, physiological score of Physiological and Operative Severity Score for the enUmeration of Mortality and morbidity (POSSUM), Onodera's prognostic nutritional index, cStage, and treatment were prognostic factors. In a multivariate analysis, POSSUM physiological score, cStage, treatment method {no surgery vs. distal gastrectomy: hazard ratio (HR) 5.78, 95% confidence interval (CI) 2.33-14.3}, (total gastrectomy vs. distal gastrectomy: HR 4.26, 95% CI 1.22-14.9) were independent prognostic factors. In univariate analyses of pneumonia-specific survival, treatment (total gastrectomy vs. distal gastrectomy: HR 6.98, 95% CI 1.18-41.3) was the only prognostic factor.

CONCLUSIONS

The prognosis of distal gastrectomy was better than that of non-surgery even in patients aged ≥ 85 years. However, total gastrectomy was considered to be avoidable due to the high rate of postoperative pneumonia death.

Safety and Feasibility of Gastrectomy in Super Elderly Patients (Aged ≥ 80): A Propensity Score-Matched Analysis

INTRODUCTION

The benefits of gastrectomy in elderly patients with gastric cancer (GC) remain unknown. This study was conducted to evaluate the short- and long-term outcomes of elderly patients with GC (≥ 80 years) who underwent gastrectomy.

METHODS

We enrolled 479 patients (Stages I-IV) who underwent gastrectomy with R0-1 resection. The patients were divided into an elderly group (E group; age ≥ 80 years) (n = 115) and a non-elderly group (NE group; age < 80 years) (n = 364). After propensity score matching (PSM) was performed, the short- and long-term outcomes were compared between the groups.

RESULTS

The rate of postoperative complications (Clavien-Dindo classification ≥ IIIa) in the two groups did not differ significantly (p = 0.657). Before PSM, the five-year overall survival (OS, 35.3% vs. 71.7%, p < 0.001) and disease-specific survival (DSS, 56.8% vs. 81.8%, p < 0.001) in the E group were significantly shorter than that in the NE group, respectively. On the other hand, significant differences between the E and NE groups were not shown in either the five-year OS (35.5% vs. 50.8%, p = 0.0985) or the five-year DSS (56.5% vs. 66.9%, p = 0.274) after PSM.

CONCLUSION

Gastrectomy for elderly patients with GC can be considered safe based on short-term outcomes. In terms of long-term results, elderly patients are not inferior to non-elderly patients if the patients' backgrounds are the same. On the other hand, the long-term outcomes of elderly GC patients who have various comorbidities are not satisfactory, so we should carefully consider the indications for gastrectomy.

Survival benefits of gastrectomy compared to conservative observation for older patients with resectable gastric cancer: a propensity score matched analysis

PURPOSE

Radical gastrectomy is considered the first choice of curative treatment for older patients with gastric cancer (GC). However, there is limited data on the survival benefits of gastrectomy for older patients with GC.

METHODS

This was a retrospective observational study where medical records of patients aged ≥ 75 years with clinically resectable primary GC, comprising 115 patients who underwent radical surgery (S group) and 33 patients who received conservative therapy (non-S group) (total cohort) and 44 propensity-matched patients (matched cohort), were reviewed. Survival and independent risk factors, including comorbidities and systemic nutritional and inflammatory statuses, were evaluated.

RESULTS

In the total cohort, the 5-year overall survival (OS) in the S group was significantly higher than that in the non-S group (53.7% vs 19.7%, P < 0.0001). In the matched cohort, the 3-year OS in the S group was significantly higher than that in the non-S group (59.4% vs 15.9%, P < 0.01). Multivariate analysis of the total cohort showed that no surgery was an independent prognostic factor for poor OS (hazard ratio (HR) 3.70, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.91-7.20, P = 0.0001). In the S group in the total cohort, the multivariate analysis showed that renal disease (HR 2.51, 95% CI 1.23-5.12, P < 0.05) was an independent prognostic factor for poor OS.

CONCLUSIONS

Gastrectomy for older patients improved the prognosis; however, careful patient selection is essential, especially among those with renal disease.

Is surgery the best treatment for elderly gastric cancer patients?

As the elderly population increases, the number of patients with gastric cancer has also been increasing. Elderly people have various preoperative problems such as malnutrition, high frequency of comorbidities, decreased performance status, and dementia. Furthermore, when surgery is performed, high postoperative complication rates and death from other diseases are also concerns. The goal of surgery in the elderly is that short-term outcomes are comparable to those in nonelderly, and long-term outcomes reach life expectancy. Perioperative problems in the elderly include: (1) Poor perioperative nutritional status; (2) Postoperative pneumonia; and (3) Psychological problems (dementia and postoperative delirium). Malnutrition in the elderly has been reported to be associated with increased postoperative complications and dementia, pointing out the importance of nutritional management. In addition, multidisciplinary team efforts, including perioperative respiratory rehabilitation, preoperative oral care, and early postoperative mobilization programs, are effective in preventing postoperative pneumonia. Furthermore, there are many reports on the usefulness of laparoscopic surgery for the elderly, and we considered that minimally invasive surgery would be the optimal treatment after assessing preoperative risk.

Risk Factors for Overall Complications and Remote Infection After Gastrectomy in Elderly Gastric Cancer Patients

BACKGROUND/AIM

A significant predictive factor for the occurrence of complications after gastrectomy in elderly gastric cancer patients is yet to be determined. We aimed to evaluate the clinical factors associated with overall complications including remote infection after gastrectomy in elderly gastric cancer patients.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

We retrospectively analyzed data of 101 patients aged over 80 years, who underwent curative gastrectomy. We analyzed the clinicopathological factors that were independently associated with the occurrence of overall complications or remote infection by a logistic regression model.

RESULTS

The overall complication rate was 24.8%. We identified pneumonia as a remote infection, and the occurrence rate of remote infections was 5.9%. On multivariate analysis, hemoglobin (<11 g/dl) and operation time (>240 min) were significantly correlated with the occurrence of overall complications. Regarding the occurrence of remote infection, performing total gastrectomy and a hemoglobin level <11 g/dl were identified as significant risk factors.

CONCLUSION

Preoperative anemia and intraoperative factors, including the surgical procedure, could affect the occurrence of postoperative complications in elderly patients.

Mortality calculator as a possible prognostic predictor of overall survival after gastrectomy in elderly patients with gastric cancer

Background

The number of elderly patients with gastric cancer has been increasing. Most elderly patients have associated reduced physiologic functions that can sometimes become an obstacle to safe surgical treatment. The National Clinical Database Risk Calculator, which based on a large Japanese surgical database, provides predicted mortality and morbidity in each case as the surgical-related risks. The purpose of this study was to investigate the clinical significance of the risk for operative mortality (NRC-mortality), as calculated by the National Clinical Database Risk Calculator, during long-term follow-up after gastrectomy for elderly patients with gastric cancer.

Methods

We enrolled 73 patients aged ≥ 80 years and underwent gastrectomy at our institution. Their surgical risk was evaluated based on the NRC-mortality. Several clinicopathologic factors, including NRC-mortality, were selected and analyzed as the possible prognostic factors for elderly patients who have undergone gastrectomy for gastric cancer. Statistical analysis was performed using the log-rank test and Cox proportional hazard model.

Results

NRC-mortality ranged from 0.5 to 10.6%, and the median value was 1.7%. Dividing the patients according to mortality, the overall survival was significantly worse in the high mortality group (≥ 1.7%, n = 38) than in the low mortality group (< 1.7%, n = 35), whereas disease-specific survival was not different between the two groups. In the Cox proportional hazard model, multivariate analysis revealed NRC-mortality, performance status, and surgical procedure as the independent prognostic factors for overall survival. For disease-specific survival, the independent prognostic factors were performance status and pathological stage but not NRC-mortality.

Conclusion

The NRC-mortality might be clinically useful for predicting both surgical mortality and overall survival after gastrectomy in elderly patients with gastric cancer.

Laparoscopic versus open resection for elderly patients with gastric cancer: a double-center study with propensity score matching method

PURPOSE

The applicability of laparoscopic-assisted radical gastrectomy for elderly patients with gastric cancer is still not well clarified. The aim of this double-center study was to explore the feasibility and effectiveness of laparoscopic-assisted radical gastrectomy on elderly patients with gastric cancer.

METHODS

We prospectively collected data of patients who underwent gastrectomy for cancer in two centers from June 2016 to December 2019. Propensity score matching was performed at a ratio of 1:1 to compare the laparoscopic-assisted radical gastrectomy group and open radical gastrectomy group. Univariate analyses and multivariate logistic regression analyses evaluating the risk factors for total, surgical, and medical complications were performed.

RESULTS

A total of 481 patients with gastric cancer met the inclusion criteria and were included in this study. After propensity score analysis, 258 patients were matched each other (laparoscopic-assisted radical gastrectomy (LAG) group, n = 129; open radical gastrectomy (OG) group, n = 129). LAG group had lower rate of surgical complications (P = 0.009), lower rate of severe complications (P = 0.046), shorter postoperative hospital stay (P = 0.001), and lower readmission rate (P = 0.039). Multivariate analyses revealed that anemia, Charlson comorbidity index, and combined resection were independent risk factors in the LAG group, whereas body mass index and American Society of Anesthesiology grade in the OG group.

CONCLUSION

Laparoscopic-assisted radical gastrectomy was relative safe even effective in elderly gastric cancer patients. We should pay attention to the different risk factors when performing different surgical procedures for gastric cancer in elderly patients.

D2 lymph node dissection confers little benefit on the overall survival of older patients with resectable gastric cancer: a propensity score-matching analysis of a multi-institutional dataset

PURPOSE

Aging societies comprise an increasing number of elderly gastric cancer (GC) patients. We herein attempted to determine whether D2 lymphadenectomy is beneficial for older GC patients.

METHODS

We retrospectively analyzed a multi-institutional dataset including 3484 patients who received surgical resection for GC. For the analysis, we selected patients aged ≥ 80 years who were clinically diagnosed with T1N + or T2-4 GC. To balance the essential variables including the type of gastrectomy and the stage of progression, propensity score matching was conducted, and we compared the background clinical factors and postoperative outcomes of the patients allocated to the D2 (n = 87) and non-D2 (n = 87) dissection groups.

RESULTS

The D2 group had significantly longer operative times, more blood loss, and more retrieved lymph nodes (median 32 vs 24, P < 0.001) than the non-D2 group. The D2 group had a greater incidence of intra-abdominal abscesses (grade ≥ II in the Clavien-Dindo classification) than the non-D2 group (3.5% vs 0%, P = 0.040). The overall disease-specific and relapse-free survival rates of the D2 group tended to be poorer than those of the non-D2 group (hazard ratios 1.49, 1.70 and 1.14, respectively).

CONCLUSIONS

D2 lymphadenectomy for older patients with GC conferred little benefit regarding overall survival despite an occurrence of increased complication rates.

Feasibility and Effectiveness of Gastrectomy for Elderly Gastric Cancer Patients

BACKGROUND/AIM

The benefits of gastrectomy for elderly gastric cancer (GC) patients remain unknown. The aim of this study was to evaluate the validity of gastrectomy.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

Patients who had R0 or R1 resection and diagnosed as pathological Stage I-III GC were enrolled in this study. Patients were classified according to age: Elderly group (≥80 years old), non-Elderly group (70-79 years old), Standard group (≤69 years old).

RESULTS

As the age raised, the number of comorbidities increased and patients had a worse physical status. Operative procedure and postoperative complications of the Elderly group were similar to that of the non-Elderly group. The overall survival was similar in pathological Stages I and III between the Elderly and non-Elderly groups, while the Stage II Elderly group had shorter overall survival. Also, the Elderly group did not undergo adjuvant chemotherapy compared to other groups.

CONCLUSION

Gastrectomy can be performed safely in elderly patients following gastrectomy, survival of elderly patients was similar to non-elderly patients. Therefore, gastrectomy is an acceptable treatment for elderly patients in good condition.

Tumor size ≥50 mm as an Independent Prognostic Factor for Patients with Stage II or III Gastric Cancer After Postoperative S-1 Monotherapy: Analysis of a Multi-institution Dataset

BACKGROUND

Little is known about the changes in prognostic factors after adjuvant S-1 monotherapy has become widespread as a standard of care for patients with gastric cancer (GC) in East Asia. The present study compared prognostic factors of patients with stage II/III GC treated with or without S-1 adjuvant to formulate appropriate risk stratification strategies.

METHODS

We designed a large multicenter dataset and retrospectively analyzed 847 patients with GC stage II or III, who underwent curative gastrectomy between 2010 and 2014. Clinicopathological features and prognostic factors were compared between the two patient groups: surgery-alone (n = 266) and S-1 adjuvant (n = 581).

RESULTS

There were no significant differences in pathological tumor depths, nodal status, and disease stages between groups. Recurrence-free survival was significantly longer in the S-1 adjuvant group. For the surgery-alone group, independent prognostic factors were (in order of hazard ratio): (1) invasive growth, (2) high preoperative carcinoembryonic antigen levels, (3) total gastrectomy. For the S-1 adjuvant group, macroscopic tumor size (≥50 mm) was identified as another independent prognostic factor next only to pN2/3. There was overlap between the survival curves of patients with tumor size  ≥50 mm in both groups. After receiving adjuvant S-1 monotherapy,  ≥50 mm patients had significantly higher prevalence of peritoneal and lymph node metastasis as initial recurrences compared with  <50 mm patients.

CONCLUSIONS

Adjuvant S-1 monotherapy may alter listing of adverse prognostic factors of stage II and III patients. Macroscopic tumor size  ≥50 mm may serve as an important determinant for risk stratification to identify patients who require more intensive treatment.

Prognosis After Laparoscopic Gastrectomy in Patients with Pathological Stage II or III Gastric Cancer Who Were Preoperatively Diagnosed with Clinical Stage I: Propensity Score Matching Analysis of a Multicenter Dataset

BACKGROUND

Laparoscopic gastrectomy (LG) is a standard approach for patients with clinical stage I gastric cancer in East Asia; however, following surgery, these patients may be pathologically diagnosed with stage II or III cancer. The prognosis of patients with gastric cancer migration from clinical stage I to pathological stage II or III after LG has not been completely clarified.

METHODS

To compare the prognosis following LG and open gastrectomy (OG) in patients with pathological stage II or III gastric cancer who were preoperatively diagnosed with stage I cancer, we conducted a retrospective analysis using a multicenter dataset comprising details of 3480 patients who underwent gastrectomy between 2010 and 2014 at nine participating institutions. We used propensity score matching to reduce selection bias.

RESULTS

After propensity score matching, 146 patients were finally selected. There were no significant differences in the number of dissected lymph nodes. Morbidity rates, length of postoperative hospital stay, and time between surgery and initiation of adjuvant chemotherapy were comparable between the two groups. Moreover, there were no significant differences in the overall, disease-specific, and relapse-free survival rates between the LG and OG groups. The LG group tended to have more patients with hematogenous recurrence, whereas the OG group tended to have more patients with peritoneal recurrence.

CONCLUSIONS

Our multicenter dataset analysis indicated that the prognosis of patients with gastric cancer migration from clinical stage I to pathological stage II or III was independent of the surgical approach.

Influence of age on postoperative complications especially pneumonia after gastrectomy for gastric cancer

Background

The aim of this study was to investigate the influence of patients’ age on postoperative morbidities including pneumonia.

Methods

We reviewed the clinical records of 211 patients with stages I – III gastric cancer undergoing curative distal gastrectomy (DG) or total gastrectomy (TG). Patients were classified into an elderly (≧80 y.o.) or a control (< 80 y.o.) group. We compared patient characteristics (sex ratio, disease stage, degree of lymph node dissection, number of retrieved lymph nodes, and type of reconstruction) and early postoperative outcomes (operation time, intra-operative blood loss, and postoperative morbidity including pneumonia, and mortality) between the two groups separately in DG and TG.

Results

There were 134 and 77 patients who underwent DG and TG, respectively. The numbers of patients in the elderly and control groups were 25 and 109 in DG and 12 and 65 in TG. The percentage of female patients in the elderly group was greater than that in the control group in both DG and TG. The extent of lymph node dissection did not differ between two groups in TG; in contrast in DG, the rate of a D1 dissection was greater in the elderly group than in the control group. There were no differences between the two groups in distribution of disease stage, number of retrieved lymph nodes, operation time, and blood loss in DG and in TG. Overall postoperative morbidity did not differ between two groups after DG and after TG. The rate of infectious complications in the elderly group was not different from that in the control group after DG and after TG. The incidence of pneumonia was more frequent in the elderly group compared to the control group after DG (8% vs. 1%, P < 0.05) but not after TG (17% vs. 5%). When patients were compared between the elderly and the control groups regardless of type of gastrectomy, the incidence of pneumonia in the elderly group (4/37 (11%)) was greater than that in the control group (4/174 (2%), P < 0.05).

Conclusions

These results suggest that pneumonia is increased in patients older than 80 years after DG.

Proposal of a Scoring Scale to Estimate Risk of the Discontinuation of S-1 Adjuvant Monotherapy in Patients with Stage II to III Gastric Cancer: A Multi-Institutional Dataset Analysis

BACKGROUND

Discontinuation of postoperative S-1 adjuvant monotherapy is a frequent problem in the management of patients with gastric cancer.

METHODS

A total of 355 stage II/III gastric cancer patients who underwent gastrectomy and adjuvant S-1 were retrospectively analyzed using a multicenter dataset. We randomly assigned patients into either discovery or validation cohort in a 2:1 ratio. In the discovery cohort, 29 parameters were assessed as candidate factors to predict discontinuation of S-1 adjuvant within 6 months. A scoring system was designed using independent risk factors identified by the multivariate analysis. Reproducibility was tested in the validation cohort.

RESULTS

Overall, 92 patients (25.9%) discontinued the treatment within 6 months because of adverse effects. Age, preoperative urea nitrogen (UN) and the preoperative albumin-to-bilirubin index (ALBI) showed the highest area under the curve (AUC) for the discontinuation of S-1 adjuvant within 6 months in each category: body status, blood tests and indices. In the multivariate analysis, age ≥ 64 years, preoperative UN ≥ 15.2 mg/dl and preoperative ALBI ≥ -0.265 were identified as independent risk factors. A scoring scale consisting of these three factors was developed for the prediction of drug discontinuation and demonstrated a greater AUC (0.728) than that of each of the three constituents. The time to treatment discontinuation decreased incrementally as the risk score increased. The reproducible findings were confirmed in the validation cohort.

CONCLUSIONS

We identified risk factors and developed a scoring scale to predict S-1 adjuvant monotherapy discontinuation in patients with stage II/III gastric cancer.

Surgical Compliance and Outcomes in Gastric Cancer: a population-based cohort study

Background: Surgical resection is one of curative treatment for gastric cancer (GC), however, a set of patients show poor surgical compliance in the USA. We aimed to identify the risk factors associated with surgical compliance and investigate the difference in survival.

Methods: GC patients diagnosed between 1973 and 2014 were identified from the Surveillance Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) databases. Based on different surgical compliance and treatment regimen, patients were classified into three subgroups: surgical compliance group, surgical noncompliance group, and non-surgical group. Multivariable Logistic regression analysis was adopted to identify the factors related to surgical compliance; Multivariable Cox regression was used to investigate the prognostic factors. Overall survival (OS) and cancer-specific survival (CSS) were analyzed using the Kaplan-Meier estimator method.

Results: Of 79374 GC patients who were recommended for surgical therapy, 15201(19.2%) cases did not perform surgery. Poor compliance of surgery was related to old age, American Indian/Alaska Native race, poor grading/late staging, single/widowed status, lower socioeconomic status and earlier time of diagnosis. As expected, GC patients of surgical compliance group showed significantly more favorable survival than the other two groups (P<0.0001); notably, the outcome of surgical noncompliance group came close to that of non-surgical group.

Conclusion: GC patients of poor surgical compliance demonstrated adverse survival, which was comparable to that of non-surgical patients. The poor surgical compliance was associated with older age, American Indian/Alaska Native race, poor tissue differentiation/advanced stage of tumor, single/widowed status, lower socioeconomic status and earlier time of diagnosis.