The 5-factor modified frailty index is a novel predictive marker of death from other diseases after curative gastrectomy for gastric cancer.

Aim: The 5-factor modified frailty index (MFI-5) is a stratification tool to evaluate a patient's frailty. This study determined whether the MFI-5 is associated with short- and long-term outcomes after curative gastrectomy in patients with gastric cancer. Methods: We retrospectively reviewed 447 consecutive patients who underwent curative gastrectomy, and evaluated their overall survival (OS), relapse-free survival (RFS) and cancerspecific survival. Results: A total of 75 patients (16.8%) had high MFI-5 scores (MFI-5 =3). A high MFI-5 score was significantly associated with advanced age, male sex and severe postoperative complications. Patients with high MFI-5 scores had significantly poorer OS and RFS than those with low MFI-5 scores (5-year OS, 80.3% vs 59.7%, P < 0.01; 5-year RFS, 77.4% vs 54.9%, P < 0.01). Additionally, a high MFI-5 score was an independent predictor for OS (hazard ratio 1.69, 95% CI 1.09-2.61; P = 0.02) and RFS (hazard ratio, 1.80, 95% CI 1.19-2.74; P = 0.01). However, cancer-specific survival was not significantly different between the two groups. Conclusions: The MFI-5 score can be predictive of postoperative morbidity and deaths from other disease after curative gastrectomy after curative gastrectomy for gastric cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]