The role of chemotherapy in patients with stage IB gastric adenocarcinoma: a real-world competing risk analysis

Background This study aimed to investigate the potential effect of adjuvant chemotherapy in patients diagnosed with stage IB gastric adenocarcinoma (GAC). Method A total of 1727 patients were included in the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database from 2004 to 2015 and divided into the chemotherapy and no-chemotherapy groups. Then, the methods of Kaplan-Meier analysis, propensity score matching (PSM), and competing risk analysis were implemented. Results After PSM, no significant difference was found in the chemotherapy and no-chemotherapy groups in overall survival (OS) (p=0.4) and cancer-specific survival (CSS) (p=0.12) in survival curves. The competing risk analysis presented that the 5-year cumulative incidence of cancer-specific death (CSD) was significantly lower in patients receiving chemotherapy (11.5% vs. 20.8%, p=0.007), while no significant discrepancy was observed in other causes of death (OCD) in both groups (10.6% vs. 10.9%, p=0.474). Multivariable competing risks regression models presented a significant correlation between chemotherapy and CSD (HR, 0.51; 95%CI, 0.31-0.82; p=0.007). Conclusion The stage IB GAC patients can benefit from adjuvant chemotherapy based on this competing risk analysis.

Automated summary

According to the competing risk analysis, adjuvant chemotherapy benefits patients with stage IB gastric adenocarcinoma by reducing the cumulative incidence of cancer-specific death (CSD).