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Introduction: Carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) and carbohydrate antigen 19-9 are widely used for treating various cancers, with cutoff values of 5.0 ng/mL and 37.0 IU/mL, respectively. However, these cutoff values are not for specific diseases or purposes but are uniformly used for any disease and any purpose. It is also unclear as to whether patients are at equal risk of recurrence if they are below the cutoff values. This study aimed to investigate the optimal cutoff of serum tumor markers in the stratification of recurrence risk after curative resection of gastric cancer. Methods: We constructed a nine-center integrated database of patients who received gastrectomy between January 2010 and December 2014 with a 5-year follow-up period. We determined the cutoff value of preoperative serum tumor marker levels correlated with postoperative recurrences and evaluated its performance in risk stratification for recurrences in 948 patients with stage II/III gastric cancer who underwent radical resection. Results: The hazard ratio for postoperative recurrences increased at two points of preoperative CEA levels, 3.6 ng/mL and 5.0 ng/mL, which were set as cutoffs. These two cutoffs stratified relapse-free survival into three levels. Conclusions: By adding a second cutoff value for preoperative serum CEA, which was proposed specifically for the prediction of recurrences, patients can be stratified into low-, intermediate-, and high-risk recurrences after curative resection of gastric cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Curative treatment for gastric cancer (GC) comprising gastrectomy with systematic lymph node dissection can result in postoperative complications. Postoperative pneumonia is sometimes fatal, like surgery-related complications such as anastomotic leakage. In this retrospective study, we analyzed a multi-institutional collaborative dataset with the aim of identifying predictors of postgastrectomy pneumonia. Methods: From a retrospective database of 3,484 patients who had undergone gastrectomy for GC at nine Japanese institutions between 2010 and 2014, 1,415 patients who met all eligibility criteria were identified as eligible for analysis. Predictive values of 31 candidate variables for postoperative pneumonia were assessed. Results: Forty-two patients (3.0%) had grade II or higher postoperative pneumonia. Preoperative systemic inflammation score (SIS) had the greatest area under the curve (0.655) for predicting postoperative pneumonia (optimal cutoff value = 2). The odds ratio (OR) of high SISs associated with postoperative pneumonia was 3.10 (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.54–6.07; p < 0.001). Multivariate binomial logistic analysis identified high SIS as an independent risk factor for postoperative pneumonia (OR, 2.31; 95% CI, 1.19–4.48; p = 0.013). A forest plot revealed that ORs of high SISs were highest in female patients. Conclusions: Our findings indicate that the preoperative SIS may serve as a simple predictor of postgastrectomy pneumonia, assisting physicians' efforts to take preventive measures against this complication. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The three dominant recurrence patterns of gastric cancer are peritoneal, hematogenous, and nodal recurrence. Correlation between initial recurrence site and prognosis is poorly understood, particularly after standardization of postoperative S‐1 adjuvant chemotherapy. Methods: We analyzed a multi‐institutional database of 3484 patients who underwent gastrectomy for gastric cancer between 2010 and 2014. Patients who experienced recurrences after curative gastrectomy classified into peritoneal, hematogenous, or nodal recurrence groups, according to their initial recurrence sites, and their prognoses were compared. Results: We included 313 patients in the analysis, of whom 190 patients (63%) were treated with postoperative adjuvant chemotherapy. Pathological disease states were stage I: n = 20 (6%), stage II: n = 62 (20%), and stage III: n = 231 (74%). Patients were categorized into groups by peritoneal (n = 127), hematogenous (n = 123), and nodal (n = 63) recurrence. The peritoneal recurrence group tended to have longer recurrence‐free survival, but shorter post‐recurrence survival, than the other two groups. Median disease‐specific survival after curative resection by group were peritoneal: 25.8 months, hematogenous: 29.0 months, and nodal: 27.8 months (peritoneal vs hematogenous, P =.152; hematogenous vs nodal, P =.955; peritoneal vs nodal, P =.213). Conclusions: Prognoses after curative resection for gastric cancer were similar among patients with peritoneal, hematogenous, or nodal recurrences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background/Aims: Identification of nutritional indicators to predict short-term and long-term outcomes is necessary to provide appropriate treatment to patients with gastric cancer. Methods: We designed an analysis of a multicenter dataset of patients with gastric cancer who underwent gastrectomy between 2010 and 2014. We enrolled 842 eligible patients who had stage II/III gastric cancer. The area under the curve (AUC) values were compared among prognostic nutritional index (PNI), calculated as 10 × albumin g/dL + 0.005 × total lymphocyte count/mm3, and its constituents, and the predictive value of preoperative PNI for postoperative short-term and long-term outcomes was evaluated. Results: Preoperative PNI exhibited higher AUC values (0.719) for 1-year survival than its constituents, and the optimal cutoff value was 47. The disease-free and overall survival of patients in the PNI-low group were significantly shorter compared with those in the PNI-high group. The prognostic difference between the PNI-high and PNI-low groups was significantly greater in the subgroup of patients who underwent total gastrectomy. Clinically relevant postoperative complications were more frequently observed in the PNI-low group. Conclusions: The preoperative PNI is a useful predictor reflecting the incidence of complications after gastrectomy and the prognosis of patients with stage II/III gastric cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Insufficient data are available on the prognostic significance of complications after resection of gastric cancer. Therefore, we aimed to assess this gap in our knowledge by studying patients with resectable gastric cancer. Methods: A multi‐institutional retrospective database comprising clinical information of 3575 patients who received resection of gastric cancer from 2010 to 2014 at nine institutions. Grades 2 or greater complications of the Clavien‐Dindo classification were judged as clinically relevant postoperative complications, and their associations with postoperative survival were assessed. We assessed the effect of complications on times of initiation and continuation of postoperative adjuvant chemotherapy by S‐1. Results: A total of 2954 patients were included in the analysis. Clinically relevant postoperative complications occurred in 664 (23%) patients. Patients' recurrence‐free survival rate incrementally decreased as the grade of complications became greater. Patients with abdominal complications (eg, leakage of pancreatic fluids, intra‐abdominal abscess, and anastomotic leakage) and those with nonabdominal complications (eg, pneumonia) experienced worse recurrence‐free survival compared to those without complications. Patients who had complications were generally at greater risk of disease recurrence, except for those who underwent laparoscopic surgery and those with pathological stage I. Delayed initiation and shorter continuation of adjuvant S‐1 chemotherapy was experienced by patients with postoperative complications. Conclusions: Postoperative complications adversely affected the prognosis in patients with resectable gastric cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Advanced gastric cancer frequently recurs even after radical resection followed by adjuvant chemotherapy. The aim of this study was to evaluate the relationship between pathological infiltrative pattern (INF) and initial recurrence patterns in patients with stage II/III gastric cancer using a large multicenter database. Methods: We retrospectively analyzed 1098 eligible patients who underwent curative gastrectomy for stage II/III gastric cancer at nine institutions between 2010 and 2014. Patients were categorized into the INF‐a/b and INF‐c groups and adjusted using propensity score matching. Results: After propensity score matching, 686 patients (343 for each) were classified in the INF‐a/b and INF‐c groups. There were no significant differences in overall and disease‐free survival between the two groups. In the INF‐a/b group, frequencies of recurrence at the peritoneum, lymph node, and liver were equivalent. In contrast, the peritoneum was the most frequent site and accounted for 60% of the total recurrences in the INF‐c group. The cumulative peritoneal recurrence rate was significantly higher in the INF‐c group than in the INF‐a/b group (hazard ratio 2.47). INF‐c was a significant risk factor for peritoneal recurrences in most subgroups including age, sex, macroscopic type, tumor differentiation, and disease stage, and whether the postoperative treatment was given. Multivariate analysis identified INF‐c as an independent risk factor for peritoneal recurrences. The cumulative liver recurrence rate was significantly higher in the INF‐a/b group than in the INF‐c group (hazard ratio 3.44). Conclusions: INF may represent an important predictor of recurrence patterns after curative resection of stage II/III gastric cancer. A multicenter database analysis using propensity score matching revealed that the pathological tumor infiltrative pattern was closely correlated with postoperative recurrence patterns in patients with stage II/III gastric cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]