Background
In Japan, S-1 adjuvant chemotherapy for 1 year is the standard of care for the treatment of stage II and III patients under 80 years old with gastric cancer after curative operation. ...However, the feasibility of S-1 chemotherapy in patients over 80 years old has not yet been elucidated.
Methods
To clarify the current treatment situation and feasibility of S-1 treatment in patients over 80 years old, a questionnaire survey of the patients treated from January 2011 to December 2012 was conducted at 58 member institutions of the Stomach Cancer Study Group of the JCOG (Japan Clinical Oncology Group).
Results
Gastrectomy was performed in 15,573 patients of all ages, and 1,660 (10.7%) patients were over 80 years of age. Of these elderly patients, 661 (4.2%) were diagnosed as stage II and III. While S-1 adjuvant chemotherapy was recommended to 248 (37.5%) of the stageII/III patients, only 99 (15.0%) of them actually received S-1. Interestingly, the creatinine clearance rate was between 30 and 80 mL/min in 87 (87.9%) of the patients suggesting that S-1 dose modification should be considered. Moreover, S-1 compliance was poor in patients with more than 15% body weight loss.
Conclusion
In general practice, surgery alone can be regarded as the standard of care for stage II and III gastric cancer patients over 80 years old. The feasibility and efficacy of S-1 adjuvant chemotherapy should be elucidated in a randomized control trial considering the vulnerabilities of the elderly.
Background
Pylorus-preserving gastrectomy (PPG) is sometimes performed as a function-preserving surgery for the treatment of early gastric cancer. The aim of this study was to use an integrated ...assessment scale for postgastrectomy syndrome to determine the appropriate indicators and optimal methods for PPG.
Methods
The Postgastrectomy Syndrome Assessment Study (PGSAS) is a multicenter survey based on an integrated questionnaire (PGSAS-45) consisting of 45 items. Questionnaire responses were retrieved from a total of 2,520 patients, each of whom had undergone one of six different types of gastrectomy procedures; 313 responses from patients who had received PPG were analyzed here.
Results
The size of the proximal gastric remnant (less than one-quarter, about one-third, or more than one-half of the original size) significantly influenced the change in body weight, the scores for dissatisfaction at the meal, and dissatisfaction for daily life subscale (
P
= 0.030,
P
= 0.005,
P
= 0.034, respectively). The nausea score in patients who underwent hand-sewn anastomosis was significantly lower than in those who underwent anastomosis with a linear stapler (
P
= 0.006). The scores for diarrhea subscale, increased passage of stools, and sense of foods sticking differed significantly depending on the length of the preserved pyloric cuff (
P
= 0.047,
P
= 0.021,
P
= 0.046, respectively).
Conclusions
The results suggest that preservation of a sufficient proximal gastric remnant is recommended when utilizing PPG as function-preserving surgery.
Background
The survival of patients with advanced gastric cancer after D2 dissection is still poor. Asian surgeons have proposed a more radical lymph node dissection, designated as D4 dissection, ...where paraaortic lymph nodes are removed in combination with D2 dissection. To evaluate the survival benefit of D4 dissection, a multi-institutional randomized trial of D2 vs D4 gastrectomy was conducted.
Methods
Patients enrolled in the study had potentially curable gastric adenocarcinoma at an advanced stage. Patients were randomized to undergo either D2 or D4 gastrectomy.
Results
Two hundred and ninety-three patients were registered and 269 patients were eligible; 135 patients were allocated to the D2 group and 134 to the D4 group. Five-year survival was 52.6% after D2 surgery and 55.0% after D4 gastrectomy. There was no significant difference in survival between the D2 and D4 groups (χ
2
= 0.064;
P
= 0.801). Hospital deaths occurred in 1 patients (0.7%) in the D2 group and 5 in the D4 group D4 gastrectomy is a more risky surgery than D2 dissection. Seven patients (5.2%) in the D2 and 15 (11.2%) in the D4 group died of causes other than gastric cancer recurrence. Sixty-three patients (46.7%) in the D2 group and 52 (38.8%) in the D4 group had disease recurrence.
Conclusion
Prophylactic D4 dissection is not recommended for patients with potentially curable advanced gastric cancer.
Background
Human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) is likely overexpressed and/or amplified in locally advanced gastric cancer with extensive (bulky N2 or paraaortic) lymph node metastasis, ...and patients may benefit from treatment with anti-HER2 antibodies. This study evaluated the frequency of HER2 overexpression and amplification in The Japanese Gastric Cancer Association (JGCA)-N3 and JGCA-bulky N2 tumors and the correlation between HER2 status and survival.
Methods
HER2 status was assessed using immunohistochemistry (IHC) and fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) in tumor tissue samples from 89 patients with gastric adenocarcinoma enrolled in the phase II JCOG0001 and JCOG0405 trials. HER2 positivity was defined as IHC3+ or IHC2+ with confirmatory FISH results.
Results
Of the 89 tumor samples, 24 (27 %) showed HER2 positivity, including 16 scored as IHC3+ and 8 as IHC2+ and FISH positive. Multivariate analysis showed that the HER2 positivity rate was significantly higher in evaluable differentiated tumors than in undifferentiated tumors 18/44 (40.9 %) vs. 5/42 (11.9 %). Although the apparent OS curve of HER2 positive was superior to that of HER2 negative patients, HER2 status was not a statistically significant prognostic factor in multivariate analysis.
Conclusion
The HER2 positivity rate was relatively high in patients with JGCA-bulky N2 and JGCA-N3 gastric adenocarcinoma, suggesting that HER2 evaluation is essential to select the therapeutic regimen for neoadjuvant chemotherapy for this group of patients.
We compared a monoclonal antibody (SV2‐61γ) and a polyclonal antibody (Dako HercepTest) in immunohistochemical assessments of human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) expression in 73 samples ...of advanced gastric cancer. Results were scored as 0 to 3+, and equivocal or discordant (SV2‐61γ/Dako HercepTest = 0/2+, 0/3+, 1+/3+ or 2+/3+) cases were subjected to fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) analysis. The frequencies of HER2 scores of 2+ or 3+ were 15.1% (11/73) using SV2‐61γ and 38.4% (28/73) using Dako HercepTest. All of the equivocal or discordant cases with a HER2 score of 3+ using Dako HercepTest exhibited amplification of the HER2 gene regardless of the HER2 score determined with SV2‐61γ. The results of the HER2 tests differed according to the antibodies used for immunohistochemistry that preceded FISH analysis, being 15.1% (11/73) using SV2‐61γ and 23.3% (17/73) using Dako HercepTest. Thus, therapeutic decisions might be markedly influenced by the selection of antibody used in the HER2 test.
We report the rare case of a 72-year-old man with double cancers (gastric adenocarcinoma and Hodgkin’s lymphoma) with collision between gastric adenocarcinoma and Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Abdominal ...computed tomography showed increased wall thickness in the fundus region of the stomach and multiple lymph node swellings in the lesser curvature, periceliac and left cardial regions. Upper gastrointestinal endoscopy showed an ulcer approximately 5 cm in diameter with a malignant appearance in the fundus region of the stomach. On histopathologic examination, two completely different tumors were recognized in the stomach. One tumor was a poorly differentiated adenocarcinoma characterized by poorly developed tubular structures associated with prominent lymphoid infiltration of the stroma. The other tumor was found to have proliferated in the wall of the stomach, with diffuse granulomatous lesions and bordering the adenocarcinoma. Large atypical lymphoid cells with prominent nucleoli and enlarged mononuclei or multinuclei were seen in the latter tumor. Hodgkin’s lymphoma was also found in the swollen lesser curvature lymph nodes. As a result, gastric adenocarcinoma and metastasis of Hodgkin’s lymphoma were collided in the stomach. In conclusion, this case might be helpful in exploring the occurrence mechanism of tumor collision between lymphoma and carcinoma.
Bursectomy, the total resection of the bursa omentalis, is a standard procedure in gastrectomy for resectable gastric cancer. A phase III trial (JCOG1001) comparing bursectomy and omentectomy alone ...was terminated early at the interim analysis. The final results of the updated analysis after a minimum follow-up of 5 years are reported here.
Patients with histologically proven adenocarcinoma of the stomach (cT3-T4a) were randomized (1 : 1) during surgery to bursectomy or omentectomy-alone groups and then underwent D2 gastrectomy. The primary endpoint was overall survival, analysed on an intention-to-treat basis.
A total of 1204 patients (602 bursectomy and 602 omentectomy alone) were enrolled between June 2010 and March 2015. The bursectomy group had a significantly higher incidence of Clavien-Dindo grade III-IV intra-abdominal abscess than the omentectomy-alone group (5.5 versus 2.5 per cent respectively; P = 0.008). The updated 5-year overall survival rates were 74.9 (95 per cent c.i. 71.2 to 78.2) per cent in the bursectomy group and 76.5 (72.8 to 79.7) per cent in the omentectomy-alone group; the adjusted HR for death in the bursectomy group was 1.03 (95 per cent c.i. 0.83 to 1.27) (1-sided P = 0.598). Bursectomy did not decrease peritoneal recurrence (12.1 versus 12.3 per cent respectively; P = 1.000). In a multivariable analysis, old age (above 65 years), tumour located in the lower third or posterior wall of the stomach, macroscopic type 3/5, total gastrectomy, and cT4a were independent predictors of poor overall survival, but omentectomy alone was not.
In D2 gastrectomy, bursectomy is not recommended as a standard procedure for cT3-T4a gastric cancer. Registration number: UMIN000003688 (https://www.umin.ac.jp/ctr/).
PDF
