Clinicopathological characteristics and prognostic factors of remnant gastric cancer: A single-center retrospective analysis of 90 patients.

BACKGROUND: The prognosis of remnant gastric cancer (RGC) is significantly poor. However, the mechanism and some clinical features of RGC have not been fully understood and are still under debate.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: From January 2000 to January 2014, 90 RGC patients were enrolled in this retrospective study. Patients were divided into two groups according to primary disease. Clinicopathological features and survival outcomes were compared between two groups.

RESULTS: A total of 34 (37.8%) patients were diagnosed with remnant gastric cancer following benign disease (RGCB) and 56 (62.2%) were diagnosed with remnant gastric cancer following malignant disease (RGCM). The mean time interval from the primary operation to the development of RGC was 12.5 ± 13.3 years in all RGC patients. The mean time interval in RGCB was significantly longer than that in RGCM (P < 0.01). The 1-, 2-, and 3- year overall survival rates of all patients were 56.1%, 38.2% and 33.2%, respectively. Univariate analysis indicated that tumor size, curability, histology type, serosa invasion, nodal involvement and distant metastasis were prognostic factors for RGC. The multivariate Cox regression analysis revealed that distant metastasis was an independent prognostic factor for RGC.

CONCLUSION: RGC occurred earlier in patients with gastrectomy for primary malignant disease than for primary benign disease, even though the primary disease made no difference to the survival of RGC. Nonetheless, RGC patients experienced dismal overall survival. Therefore, early diagnosis plays a significant role in successfully carrying out curative resection and improving the prognosis for RGC.