Changing trends of clinicopathologic features and survival duration after surgery for gastric cancer in Northeast China

BACKGROUND Through analyzing the data from a single institution in Northeast China, this study revealed the possible clinicopathologic characteristics that influence the prognosis of patients with gastric cancer (GC). AIM To evaluate the changing trends of clinicopathologic features and survival duration after surgery in patients with GC in Northeast China, which is a high-prevalence area of GC. METHODS The study analyzed the difference in clinicopathologic features and survival duration after surgery of 5887 patients who were histologically diagnosed with GC at the Harbin Medical University Cancer Hospital. The study mainly analyzed the data in three periods, 2000 to 2004 (Phase 1), 2005 to 2009 (Phase 2), and 2010 to 2014 (Phase 3). RESULTS Over time, the postoperative survival rate significantly increased from 2000 to 2014. In the past 15 years, compared with Phases 1 and 2, the tumor size was smaller in Phase 3 (P 0.001), but the proportion of high-medium differentiated tumors increased (P 0.001). The proportion of early GC gradually increased from 3.9% to 14.4% (P 0.001). A surprising improvement was observed in the mean number of retrieved lymph nodes, ranging from 11.4 to 27.5 (P 0.001). The overall 5-year survival rate increased from 24% in Phase 1 to 43.8% in Phase 3. Through multivariate analysis, it was found that age, tumor size, histologic type, tumor-node-metastasis stage, depth of invasion, lymph node metastasis, surgical approach, local infiltration, radical extent, number of retrieved lymph nodes, and age group were independent risk factors that influenced the prognosis of patients with GC. CONCLUSION The clinical features of GC in Northeast China changed during the observation period. The increasing detection of early GC and more standardized surgical treatment effectively prolonged lifetimes.