Cardiovascular Risk Factors in Gastric Cancer Patients Decrease 1 Year After Gastrectomy.

BACKGROUND: Due to the high 5-year overall survival rate (>95 %) for early gastric cancer (EGC), patients now face risks of developing comorbidities. Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is one of the most common causes of death not only in the general population and but also in cancer patients. Thus, we determined the effect of gastrectomy on cardiovascular risk factors by analyzing changes in lipid profiles of patients who underwent curative gastrectomy for EGC.

METHODS: Seventy-three patients who received curative gastrectomy for EGC were included and divided into gastroduodenostomy (GD) and duodenal bypass (DB) groups according to the anastomosis. Changes in visceral fat area (VFA), subcutaneous fat area (SFA), and lipid profiles [total cholesterol (TC), triglyceride (TG), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C)] were evaluated in both groups 1 year after gastrectomy.

RESULTS: Body weight, VFA, SFA, TG, LDL-C, and TC decreased significantly while HDL-C increased (p < 0.001) after the surgery. We observed a weak negative correlation between percent change of VFA and HDL-C (r = -0.245, p = 0.036). When compared with the GD group, the DB group lost more SFA (p < 0.001), body weight (p = 0.008), and TC (p = 0.031). We also found that the degree of BMI change (∆BMI) was greater in the obese patients than in the non-obese patients (p < 0.001).

CONCLUSIONS: Curative gastrectomy reduces VFA, SFA, and body weight and improves lipid profiles in patients with EGC, all of which indicates reduced cardiovascular risk. Therefore, prospective studies are required to verify whether gastrectomy in EGC patients has favorable effects on future CVD mortality.