RADICAL SURGERY IN EARLY STAGE GASTRIC CANCER: SINGLE CENTER EXPERIENCE

Objective: This study was performed to determine the overall early stage gastric cancer (ESGC) prevalence and to evaluate the short and long-term postoperative outcomes of patients with ESGC who underwent radical surgery. Method: All 391 gastric cancer patients who underwent radical surgery between 2006 and 2013 were included in the study. Thirty nine patients who were diagnosed with ESGC were evaluated retrospectively in terms of demographics, pathological findings and clinical outcomes. Results: Thirteen (33%) patients had morbidity and mortality rates of zero. The depth of tumor invasion was submucosal in 26 (67%) patients, intramucosal in 13 (33%). Eleven (28%) patients had lymph node involvement. While lymph node involvement rate in intramucosal tumors was 14%, the rate rose up to 34.6% in submucosal tumors. The average follow-up period was 73.6 months. The long term outcomes in 4 (10%) patients had a recurrence and 3 (7.5%) patients died. Thirty-five (%89.7) patients are being monitored tumor-free at the time of publication. Conclusion: When compared to Asian countries, the prevalence of ESGC was lower in our study. However, lymph node involvement in ESGC was higher. Only 1.8% of patients were found appropriate for endoscopic resection according to the Japanese Endoscopic Treatment Guidelines. In line with these data, we find that radical surgery is an appropriate treatment choice for ESGC in our country.