Cross-Sectional Location of Gastric Cancer Affects the Long-Term Survival of Patients as Tumor Invasion Deepens

The prognosis of gastric cancer is generally determined by tumor depth and lymph node metastasis, while the effect of cross-sectional tumor location on prognosis remains unclear. This study recruited patients who had been diagnosed with gastric cancer and who underwent gastrectomy from 1989 to 2012. The cross-sectional locations of the gastric cancers were classified into four regions: the lesser (LC) and greater curvatures (GC), and anterior (AW) and posterior walls (PW). Overall, 4820 patients were enrolled in this study. The most common site of gastric cancer among the four cross-sectional locations was the LC (46.4%), while the proportions of PW (19.9%), AW (18.4%), and GC (15.4%) were similar. Overall survival differed statistically (p = 0.013) according to the cross-sectional location, and the 5-year overall survival of those with tumors with a GC location was significantly worse (p = 0.003) than for the other three locations. In subgroup multivariate analysis, GC location was an independent prognostic indicator for a worse clinical outcome at T stage 3–4b (hazard ratio 1.365, 95% confidence interval 1.150–1.620, p