Analysis of the prognostic factors for liver metastasis of gastric cancer after hepatic resection: a multi-institutional study of the indications for resection.
OBJECTIVE
The number of reports of hepatic resection for metastatic gastric cancer is very small. The outcome and indications of hepatic resection for metastatic gastric cancer remains unknown.


METHODS
A multi-institutional study was made. Thirty-six patients who underwent a hepatic resection for liver metastasis of gastric cancer with no residual tumor were included in this study. The clinicopathological factors were examined as prognostic factors by multivariate analyses. Thirty patients had recurrence and the recurrence pattern and risk factors for extrahepatic recurrence was examined.


RESULTS
The overall survival rate was 64% at 1 year, 43% at 2 years, 26% at 3 years 26% at 5 years, and 26% at 10 years after hepatectomy. Multivariate analysis showed that lymphatic invasion, venous invasion of cancer cells of primary gastric cancer and the number of the liver metastasis (> 3) were independent poor prognostic factors after hepatic resection. The most common recurrence pattern was intrahepatic recurrence in 22 patients (73%). The risk factors for extrahepatic recurrence was serosal invasion, lymph node metastasis of primary gastric cancer, stage, and curability of operation.


CONCLUSIONS
Hepatic resection for liver metastasis should be attempted in case primary gastric cancer has neither lymphatic invasion nor venous invasion. The most common recurrent site was the liver. In patients with advanced gastric cancer, having neither serosal invasion nor lymph node metastasis, who underwent a less curative operation, the intra-hepatic recurrence would be expected. Thus, aggressive adjuvant chemotherapy through the hepatic artery may improve the survival after hepatectomy in these patients.
Department of Surgery and Science, Graduate School of Medical Science, Kyushu University, 3-1-1 Maidashi, Higashi-ku, Fukuoka 812-8581, Japan.
Ken
K
Shirabe
Mitsuo
M
Shimada
Takashi
T
Matsumata
Hidefumi
H
Higashi
Yohichi
Y
Yakeishi
Shigeki
S
Wakiyama
Yasuharu
Y
Ikeda
Takuhiro
T
Ezaki
Shingo
S
Fukuzawa
Kenji
K
Takenaka
Keishi
K
Kishikawa
Tetsuo
T
Ikeda
Ken-ichi
K
Taguchi
Yoshihiko
Y
Maehara
Keizo
K
Sugimachi
D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D006498:Hepatectomy; D006801:Humans; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality / Q000556:secondary* / Q000601:surgery*; D008207:Lymphatic Metastasis; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D009361:Neoplasm Invasiveness; D011379:Prognosis; D012307:Risk Factors; D013274:Stomach Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology / Q000556:secondary*; D016019:Survival Analysis