title: Comparison of disease-specific survival in the United States and Korea after resection for early-stage node-negative gastric carcinoma.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Disease-specific survival (DSS) for GC patients differs in Eastern and Western countries. The aim is to compare outcomes of US and Korean patients following resection of early-stage, node-negative gastric carcinoma (GC).
  
  
  METHODS
  All patients (1995-2005) with T1N0 gastric carcinoma, excluding gastroesophageal tumors, were evaluated. DSS was compared by adjusting for prognostic variables from an internationally validated GC nomogram.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The cohort included 598 Korean patients and 159 US patients. Age and BMI were significantly higher in US patients. Distal tumor location was more frequent in Korea (60% vs. 52%) and proximal location in the US (19% vs. 5%, P < 0.0001). Five-year DSS did not differ significantly between Korea and the US. After multivariate analysis, DSS of Korean patients persisted, with no significant differences when compared to US patients (HR = 1.2, 95% CI: 0.3-5.2, P = 0.83).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Despite widespread speculations that GC differs in the East and West, when we compare similarly staged, node-negative GC patients, survival did not differ significantly between Korea and the US. This suggests that GC is a heterogeneous disease and when similar subtypes of gastric cancer are compared, these differences disappear. This study suggests more similarities than previously hypothesized between US and Korean GC patients.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY, USA.
authors.forename: Vivian E
authors.initials: VE
authors.lastname: Strong
authors.forename: Kyo Young
authors.initials: KY
authors.lastname: Song
authors.forename: Cho Hyun
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: Lindsay M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Jacks
authors.forename: Mithat
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gonen
authors.forename: Manish A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Shah
authors.forename: Daniel G
authors.initials: DG
authors.lastname: Coit
authors.forename: Murray F
authors.initials: MF
authors.lastname: Brennan
mesh_terms: D000230:Adenocarcinoma / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D005743:Gastrectomy / Q000401:mortality*; D054624:Health Status Disparities; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D049451:Nomograms; D011446:Prospective Studies; D056910:Republic of Korea; D013274:Stomach Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D016019:Survival Analysis; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014481:United States