Relationship between clinicopathologic factors and prognosis of patients with early gastric cancer.

Objective To investigate the relationship between various clinicopatholngic factors and prognosis of early gastric cancer. Methods The clinical data of 459 patients with early gastric cancer who had undergone gastrectomy combined with extended (D2) lymphadenectomy at Zhongshan Hospital from January 2002 to October 2007 were retrospectively analyzed. Survival was calculated using the Kaplan-Meier method, and clinicopathologic factors such as age, sex, tumor size, gross morphology, tumor differentiation, depth of invasion, lymphatic vessels involvement and lymph node metastasis were analyzed using the Cox regression model. Univariate analysis was done by Log-rank test. Results Univariate analysis demonstrated that tumor size and differentiation, depth of invasion, lymphatic vessels involvement and lymph node metastasis significantly affected survival in patients with early gastric cancer (χ2 = 8.476, 6.210, 4.014, 14. 197, 55.027, P < 0.05). The status of lymph node metastasis was an independent predictor of survival in patients with early gastric cancer, and the more metastatic lymph nodes detected, the greater the influence on the prognosis. Conclusions Lymph node metastasis is the most important factor influencing the prognosis of early gastric cancer. Appropriate lymph node dissection is necessary, especially for patients with risk factors associated with lymph node metastasis. Key words: Gastric neoplasms, early;  Lymph node metastasis;  Prognosis