title: Long-term oncologic outcomes of 714 consecutive laparoscopic gastrectomies for gastric cancer: results from the 7-year experience of a single institute.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Although many reports have indicated the feasibility of laparoscopic gastrectomy (LG) regarding short-term surgical outcomes, the role of LG remains controversial because studies of long-term outcomes of LG are insufficient. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the long-term oncologic outcomes of patients who have undergone LG.
  
  
  METHODS
  Between May 2003 and December 2009, 714 consecutive patients underwent LG for gastric cancer. After excluding operative mortality (n = 4) and a case of Krukenberg tumor that was not identified at the time of surgery (n = 1), a total of 709 patients were analyzed for long-term oncologic outcomes. Gastric cancer cases were analyzed according to the American Joint Committee on Cancer classification (seventh edition). Overall survival and relapse-free survival were estimated by using the Kaplan-Meier method.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Median follow-up was 46.2 months. Postoperative recurrence was observed in 26 patients (3.7%). The instances of recurrence were as follows: seven peritoneal, six locoregional, five hematogenous, four distant lymph nodes, and four mixed recurrence. There were neither port-site nor wound site metastases. The 5-year relapse-free survival rates were: 95.8% in stage I, 83.4% in stage II, and 46.4% in stage III. Five-year overall survival rates were: 96.4% in stage I, 83.1% in stage II, and 50.2% in stage III. The independent risk factors for recurrence were T stage and N stage. For survival, age, T stage, and N stage were statistically independent prognostic factors
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our single-center study of a large patient series revealed that LG for gastric cancer had acceptable long-term oncologic outcomes comparable to those of conventional open surgery.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Yonsei University College of Medicine, 134 Shinchon-dong, Seodaemun-gu, 120-752, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Kyung Ho
authors.initials: KH
authors.lastname: Pak
authors.forename: Woo Jin
authors.initials: WJ
authors.lastname: Hyung
authors.forename: Taeil
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Son
authors.forename: Kazutaka
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Obama
authors.forename: Yanghee
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Woo
authors.forename: Hyoung-Il
authors.initials: HI
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Ji Yeong
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: An
authors.forename: Jong Won
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Jae-Ho
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Cheong
authors.forename: Seung Ho
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Choi
authors.forename: Sung Hoon
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Noh
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D004812:Epidemiologic Methods; D005260:Female; D005743:Gastrectomy / Q000379:methods* / Q000401:mortality / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D010535:Laparoscopy / Q000401:mortality / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009364:Neoplasm Recurrence, Local / Q000401:mortality; D013274:Stomach Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality / Q000601:surgery*; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D055815:Young Adult