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Staging laparoscopy (SL) is frequently carried out in patients with advanced gastric cancer. However, some clinical questions are being debated and consensus must be obtained. With this aim, a literature search of PubMed/MEDLINE was carried out using the keywords “gastric cancer,” “SL,” and “diagnostic laparoscopy”. Articles published online up to February 2019 were analyzed, focusing on the following questions. (i) What is an adequate indication for SL? (ii) How do you carry out SL? (iii) Does SL provide accurate information about peritoneal dissemination? (iv) Is the yield of SL different by tumor location? (v) Is SL a safe procedure? (vi) Is “repeat SL” needed? (vii) Does SL provide oncological benefit? Results provided the following responses: (i) In Western countries, clinically resectable advanced tumor is an indication for SL. Terms to be introduced for adequate indication include “location,” “type 4 (linitis feature),” “large tumor,” “equivocal computed tomography (CT] findings,” and “lymph node swelling”. (ii) Exploration of the entire peritoneal cavity is preferable. (iii) Detection rate of peritoneal disease is 43%‐52% in Japanese institutions and 7.8%‐40% in other countries. False‐negative findings during SL were 0%‐17%, and 10%‐13% when limited to cytology. (iv) Yield of SL was higher in gastric cancer compared with esophagogastric junctional tumor. (v) SL‐related complications were estimated to occur in 0.4%. (vi) Repeat SL is important after treatment. (vii) If the efficacy of neoadjuvant chemotherapy for patients with P0CY1 is established, SL can provide oncological benefit. SL can be carried out safely and effectively. Considering the prevalence of neoadjuvant treatment, the role of SL will become more important. Some problems regarding staging laparoscopy for gastric cancer patients must be debated. The role of staging laparoscopy was studied by literature search.

BackgroundThe aim of this retrospective study was to investigate the tumor characteristics, surgical details, and survival distribution of surgically resected cases of gastric cancer from the nationwide registry of the Japanese Gastric Cancer Association.MethodsData from 118,367 patients with primary gastric carcinoma who underwent resection between 2001 and 2007 were included in the survival analyses. The 5-year survival rates were calculated for various subsets of prognostic factors.ResultsThe median age of the patients was 67 years. The proportions of patients with pathological stage (Japanese Gastric Cancer Association) IA, IB, II, IIIA, IIIB, and IV disease were 44.0%, 14.7%, 11.7%, 9.5%, 5.0%, and 12.4% respectively. The death rate within 30 days of operation was 0.5%. The 5-year overall survival rate in the 118,367 patients who were treated by resection was 71.1%. The 5-year overall survival rates of patients with pathological stage IA, IB, II, IIIA, IIIB, and IV disease were 91.5%, 83.6%, 70.6%, 53.6%, 34.8%, and 16.4% respectively. The 5-year disease-specific survival rates in the patients with pT1 (mucosa) disease after D1+ dissection of lymph node station no. 7 (D1 + α), D1+ dissection of lymph node station nos. 7, 8, and 9 (D1+ β), and D2 lymphadenectomy were 99.4%, 99.6%, and 99.1% respectively. The 5-year disease-specific survival rates in the patients with pT1 (submucosa) disease after D1 + α, D1 + β, and D2 lymphadenectomy were 97.3%, 98.1%, and 96.9% respectively.ConclusionDetailed analyses of the data from more than 100,000 patients show the recent trends of the outcomes of gastric cancer treatment in Japan and provide baseline information for use by medical communities around world.

Background We are increasingly experiencing difficulty in deciding whether to perform gastrectomy after noncurative endoscopic resection of early gastric cancer (EGC) for patients at high risk for surgery. If the differences in risk for lymph node metastasis (LNM) on the basis of noncurative status are understood, the decision becomes easier. The present study aimed to stratify the LNM risk and develop and validate a risk-scoring model for predicting LNM. Methods By retrospectively reviewing 3131 patients with solitary EGC who underwent gastrectomy with lymphadenectomy at our institution between July 1997 and May 2013, LNM risk was stratified and a risk-scoring model was developed on the basis of the identified independent risk factors for LNM. The scoring was validated using 352 other surgically resected EGC cases. The discriminatory accuracy of the scoring was measured by area under receiver operating characteristic curve (AUROC). Results LNM was detected in 386 of 3131 cases. LNM risk in each subgroup, stratified by the identified independent risk factors, such as tumor size, depth, histological type, ulcerative findings, and lymphovascular involvement, considerably varied from 0 % to >50 % even among the current guidelines’ noncurative subgroups. An 11-point scoring model was built, and AUROCs were 0.84 (95 % confidence interval, 0.82–0.86) and 0.82 (0.75–0.88) in the development and validation sets, respectively. Conclusions The present study revealed detailed LNM risk stratification data, and developed and validated an 11-point scoring model.

Backgrounds No confirmatory randomized controlled trials (RCTs) have evaluated the efficacy of laparoscopy-assisted distal gastrectomy (LADG) compared with open distal gastrectomy (ODG). We performed an RCT to confirm that LADG is not inferior to ODG in efficacy. Methods We conducted a multi-institutional RCT. Eligibility criteria included histologically proven gastric adenocarcinoma in the middle or lower third of the stomach, clinical stage I tumor. Patients were preoperatively randomized to ODG or LADG. This study is now in the follow-up stage. The primary endpoint is relapse-free survival (RFS) and the primary analysis is planned in 2018. Here, we compared the surgical outcomes of the two groups. This trial was registered at the UMIN Clinical Trials Registry as UMIN000003319. Results Between March 2010 and November 2013, 921 patients (LADG 462, ODG 459) were enrolled from 33 institutions. Operative time was longer in LADG than in ODG (median 278 vs. 194 min, p  < 0.001), while blood loss was smaller (median 38 vs. 115 ml, p  < 0.001). There was no difference in the overall proportion with in-hospital grade 3–4 surgical complications (3.3 %: LADG, 3.7 %: ODG). The proportion of patients with elevated serum AST/ALT was higher in LADG than in ODG (16.4 vs. 5.3 %, p  < 0.001). There was no operation-related death in either arm. Conclusions This trial confirmed that LADG was as safe as ODG in terms of adverse events and short-term clinical outcomes. LADG may be an alternative procedure in clinical IA/IB gastric cancer if the noninferiority of LADG in terms of RFS is confirmed.

Background: Although the incidence and mortality have decreased, gastric cancer (GC) is still a public health issue globally. An international study reported higher survival in Korea and Japan than other countries, including the United States. We examined the determinant factors of the high survival in Japan compared with the United States. Methods: We analysed data on 78,648 cases from the nationwide GC registration project, the Japanese Gastric Cancer Association (JGCA), from 2004–2007 and compared them with 16,722 cases from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results Program (SEER), a United States population-based cancer registry data from 2004–2010. We estimated 5-year relative survival and applied a multivariate excess hazard model to compare the two countries, considering the effect of number of lymph nodes (LNs) examined. Results: Five-year relative survival in Japan was 81.0%, compared with 45.0% in the United States. After controlling for confounding factors, we still observed significantly higher survival in Japan. Among N2 patients, a higher number of LNs examined showed better survival in both countries. Among N3 patients, the relationship between number of LNs examined and differences in survival between the two countries disappeared. Conclusion: Although the wide differences in GC survival between Japan and United States can be largely explained by differences in the stage at diagnosis, the number of LNs examined may also help to explain the gaps between two countries, which is related to stage migration.

Remnant gastric cancer, most frequently defined as cancer detected in the remnant stomach after distal gastrectomy for benign disease and those cases after surgery of gastric cancer at least 5 years after the primary surgery, is often reported as a tumor with poor prognosis. The Task Force of Japanese Gastric Cancer Association for Research Promotion evaluated the clinical impact of remnant gastric cancer by systematically reviewing publications focusing on molecular carcinogenesis, lymph node status, patient survival, and surgical complications. A systematic literature search was performed using PubMed/MEDLINE with the keywords “remnant,” “stomach,” and “cancer,” revealing 1154 relevant reports published up to the end of December 2014. The mean interval between the initial surgery and the diagnosis of remnant gastric cancer ranged from 10 to 30 years. The incidence of lymph node metastases at the splenic hilum for remnant gastric cancer is not significantly higher than that for primary proximal gastric cancer. Lymph node involvement in the jejunal mesentery is a phenomenon peculiar to remnant gastric cancer after Billroth II reconstruction. Prognosis and postoperative morbidity and mortality rates seem to be comparable to those for primary proximal gastric cancer. The crude 5-year mortality for remnant gastric cancer was 1.08 times higher than that for primary proximal gastric cancer, but this difference was not statistically significant. In conclusion, although no prospective cohort study has yet evaluated the clinical significance of remnant gastric cancer, our literature review suggests that remnant gastric cancer does not adversely affect patient prognosis and postoperative course.

BackgroundNeoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) followed by radical surgery is a promising strategy to improve survival of patients with stage III gastric cancer, but is associated with the risk of preoperative overdiagnosis by which patients with early disease may receive unnecessary intensive chemotherapy.MethodsWe assessed the validity of a preoperative diagnostic criterion in a prospective multicenter study. Patients with gastric cancer with a clinical diagnosis of T2/T3/T4, M0, except for diffuse large tumors and extensive bulky nodal disease, were eligible. Prospectively recorded clinical diagnoses (cT category, cN category) were compared with postoperative pathological diagnoses (pT category, pN category, and pathological stage). The primary endpoint was the proportion of pathological stage I tumors among those diagnosed as cT3/T4, which we expected to be 5% or less.ResultsData from 1260 patients enrolled from 53 institutions were analyzed. The proportion of pathological stage I tumors in those with a diagnosis of cT3/T4 (primary endpoint) was 12.3%, which was much higher than the prespecified value. The positive predictive value and the sensitivity for pathological stage III tumors were 43.6% and 87.8% respectively. The sensitivity and specificity of contrast-enhanced CT for lymph node metastasis were 62.5% and 65.7% respectively. After exploring several diagnostic criteria, we propose, for future NAC trials in Japan, a diagnosis of “cT3/T4 with cN1/N2/N3,” by which inclusion of pathological stage I tumors was reduced to 6.5%, although its sensitivity for pathological stage III tumors decreased to 64.5%.ConclusionClinical diagnosis of T3/T4 tumors was not an optimal criterion to select patients for intensive NAC trials because more than 10% of patients with pathological stage I disease were included. We propose the criterion “cT3/T4 and cN1/N2/N3” instead.

Purpose The impact of postoperative complications on survival after radical surgery for esophageal, gastric, and colorectal cancers remains controversial. We conducted a systematic review of recent publications to examine the effect of postoperative complications on oncological outcome. Methods A literature search of PubMed/MEDLINE was performed using the keywords “esophageal cancer,” “gastric cancer,” and “colorectal cancer,” obtaining 27 reports published online up until the end of April 2016. Articles focusing on (i) postoperative morbidity and oncological outcome; and (ii) body mass index (BMI), postoperative morbidity, and oncological outcome, were selected. Univariate and multivariate analyses (Cox proportional hazards model) were performed. Results Patients with postoperative complications had significantly poorer long‐term survival than those without complications. Complications were associated with impaired oncological outcomes. The hazard ratios for overall survival were 1.67 (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.31‐2.12), 1.59 (95% CI, 1.13‐2.24), and 1.55 (95% CI, 1.28‐1.87) in esophageal, gastric, and colorectal cancers, respectively. High BMI was associated with postoperative morbidity rate but not with poor oncological outcome. Low BMI was significantly associated with inferior oncological outcome. Conclusions Complications after radical surgery for esophageal, gastric, and colorectal cancers are associated with patient prognosis. Avoiding such complications might improve the outcomes. A systematic review of the impact of postoperative complications on long‐term survival of patients with gastrointestinal cancers showed that infectious complications, particularly pneumonia, were significant risk factors with negative impacts on patient survival.

The world is becoming longer-lived, and the number of elderly colorectal cancer patients is increasing. It is very important to identify simple and inexpensive postoperative predictors in elderly colorectal cancer patients. The geriatric nutritional risk index (GNRI) is a marker of systemic nutrition and is associated with poor survival in various kinds of cancers. A few reports have investigated recurrence factors using preoperative GNRI with CRC (colorectal cancer) patients. This study aimed to investigate whether preoperative GNRI is associated with recurrence-free survival (RFS) and overall survival (OS) in elderly patients with CRC. This study retrospectively enrolled 259 patients with Stage I–III CRC who were more than 65 years old and underwent curative surgery at a single institution in 2012–2017. We classified them into low GNRI (RFS: ≤ 90.5, OS ≤ 101.1) group and high GNRI (RFS: > 90.5, OS > 101.1) group. Multivariable analyses showed low GNRI group was an independent risk factor for 3-year RFS ( P  = 0.006) and OS ( P  = 0.001) in the patients with CRC. Kaplan–Meier analysis showed 3-year RFS and 3-year OS were significantly worse in the low GNRI group than in high GNRI group ( p  = 0.001, 0.0037). A low-preoperative GNRI was significantly associated with a poor prognosis in elderly CRC patients.

Background Clinical outcomes of early gastric cancer (EGC) patients after noncurative endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD) have not been fully elucidated; we therefore aimed to clarify these outcomes. Methods A total of 3058 consecutive patients with 3474 clinically diagnosed EGCs at initial onset underwent ESD with curative intent at our hospital between 1999 and 2010. We retrospectively assessed the following clinical outcomes of noncurative gastric ESD patients with a possible risk of lymph node (LN) metastasis by dividing patients into two groups with different treatment strategies (additional gastrectomy and simple follow-up): presence of LN metastasis at the time of gastrectomy, incidence of LN and distant metastases during the follow-up period, clinicopathological factors associated with metastasis, and 5-year disease-specific survival (DSS). Results After exclusion of 75 noncurative ESD patients with only a positive horizontal margin, 569 noncurative ESD patients with a possible risk of LN metastasis were identified. Among the 356 patients undergoing additional gastrectomy, LN metastasis was identified in 18 patients. A positive vertical margin with submucosal invasion (odds ratio 3.6) and lymphovascular invasion (odds ratio 3.5) were significantly associated with LN metastasis. The 5-year DSS rate was 98.8 %. Among the 212 patients who underwent simple follow-up, LN and/or distant metastases were found in eight patients. In this group, lymphovascular invasion (hazard ratio 6.6) was significantly associated with metastasis with a 5-year DSS rate of 96.8 %. Conclusions Additional gastrectomy should be performed particularly in noncurative gastric ESD patients with lymphovascular invasion or a positive vertical margin with submucosal invasion.