Key clinical point: Modern perioperative chemotherapy (PC) combined with minimally invasive surgery (MIS) improves lymph node yield and long-term survival without affecting postoperative morbidity in operable gastric cancer.
Major finding: Compared with surgery in 2005-2010, that in 2016-2021 and 2011-2015 was associated with adjusted hazard ratios (95% CI) for overall 3-year mortality of 0.37 (0.20-0.68) and 1.02 (0.63-1.66), respectively. Surgery in 2016-2021 vs 2005-2010 led to significantly increased median lymph node yield (23 vs 17; P < .001) but similar major complication rates (15.5% vs 12.3%; P = .736).
Study details: This real-world retrospective study included 181 patients with gastric or esophagogastric junction adenocarcinoma who underwent curative intent surgery in years 2005-2010 (open surgery+adjuvant therapy; n = 65), 2011-2015 (PC+MIS adopted; n = 58), and 2016-2021 (PC+MIS standard practice; n = 58).
Disclosures: This study was sponsored by the Instrumentarium Science Foundation, Helsinki, Finland, among others. The authors declared no conflicts of interest.
Source: Junttila A et al. Implementation of multimodality therapy and minimally invasive surgery: Short- and long-term outcomes of gastric cancer surgery in medium-volume center. J Gastrointest Surg. 2022 (Aug 24). Doi: 10.1007/s11605-022-05437-3