title: Effect of complication grade on survival following curative gastrectomy for carcinoma.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To elucidate the potential impact of the grade of complications on long-term survival of gastric cancer patients after curative surgery.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 751 gastric cancer patients who underwent curative gastrectomy between January 2002 and December 2006 in our center were enrolled in this study. Patients were divided into four groups: no complications, Grade I, Grade II and Grade III complications, according to the following classification systems: T92 (Toronto 1992 or Clavien), Accordion Classification, and Revised Accordion Classification. Clinicopathological features were compared among the four groups and potential prognostic factors were analyzed. The Log-rank test was used to assess statistical differences between the groups. Independent prognostic factors were identified using the Cox proportional hazards regression model. Stratified analysis was used to investigate the impact of complications of each grade on survival.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Significant differences were found among the four groups in age, sex, other diseases (including hypertension, diabetes and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease), body mass index (BMI), intraoperative blood loss, tumor location, extranodal metastasis, lymph node metastasis, tumor-node-metastasis (TNM) stage, and chemotherapy. Overall survival (OS) was significantly influenced by the complication grade. The 5-year OS rates were 43.0%, 42.5%, 25.5% and 9.6% for no complications, and Grade I, Grade II and Grade III complications, respectively (P < 0.001). Age, tumor size, intraoperative blood loss, lymph node metastasis, TNM stage and complication grade were independent prognostic factors in multivariate analysis. With stratified analysis, lymph node metastasis, tumor size, and intraoperative blood loss were independent prognostic factors for Grade I complications (P < 0.001, P = 0.031, P = 0.030). Age and lymph node metastasis were found to be independent prognostic factors for OS of gastric cancer patients with Grade II complications (P = 0.034, P = 0.001). Intraoperative blood loss, TNM stage, and chemotherapy were independent prognostic factors for OS of gastric cancer patients with Grade III complications (P = 0.003, P = 0.005, P < 0.001). There were significant differences among patients with Grade I, Grade II and Grade III complications in TNM stage II and III cancer (P < 0.001, P = 0.001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Complication grade may be an independent prognostic factor for gastric cancer following curative resection. Treatment of complications can improve the long-term outcome of gastric cancer patients.
authors.affiliation: Nan Jiang, Jing-Yu Deng, Xue-Wei Ding, Li Zhang, Hong-Gen Liu, Yue-Xiang Liang, Han Liang, Department of Gastric Cancer, Tianjin Medical University Cancer Institute and Hospital, National Clinical Research Center of Cancer, Tianjin 300060, China.
authors.forename: Nan
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.affiliation: Nan Jiang, Jing-Yu Deng, Xue-Wei Ding, Li Zhang, Hong-Gen Liu, Yue-Xiang Liang, Han Liang, Department of Gastric Cancer, Tianjin Medical University Cancer Institute and Hospital, National Clinical Research Center of Cancer, Tianjin 300060, China.
authors.forename: Jing-Yu
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Deng
authors.affiliation: Nan Jiang, Jing-Yu Deng, Xue-Wei Ding, Li Zhang, Hong-Gen Liu, Yue-Xiang Liang, Han Liang, Department of Gastric Cancer, Tianjin Medical University Cancer Institute and Hospital, National Clinical Research Center of Cancer, Tianjin 300060, China.
authors.forename: Xue-Wei
authors.initials: XW
authors.lastname: Ding
authors.affiliation: Nan Jiang, Jing-Yu Deng, Xue-Wei Ding, Li Zhang, Hong-Gen Liu, Yue-Xiang Liang, Han Liang, Department of Gastric Cancer, Tianjin Medical University Cancer Institute and Hospital, National Clinical Research Center of Cancer, Tianjin 300060, China.
authors.forename: Li
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Nan Jiang, Jing-Yu Deng, Xue-Wei Ding, Li Zhang, Hong-Gen Liu, Yue-Xiang Liang, Han Liang, Department of Gastric Cancer, Tianjin Medical University Cancer Institute and Hospital, National Clinical Research Center of Cancer, Tianjin 300060, China.
authors.forename: Hong-Gen
authors.initials: HG
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Nan Jiang, Jing-Yu Deng, Xue-Wei Ding, Li Zhang, Hong-Gen Liu, Yue-Xiang Liang, Han Liang, Department of Gastric Cancer, Tianjin Medical University Cancer Institute and Hospital, National Clinical Research Center of Cancer, Tianjin 300060, China.
authors.forename: Yue-Xiang
authors.initials: YX
authors.lastname: Liang
authors.affiliation: Nan Jiang, Jing-Yu Deng, Xue-Wei Ding, Li Zhang, Hong-Gen Liu, Yue-Xiang Liang, Han Liang, Department of Gastric Cancer, Tianjin Medical University Cancer Institute and Hospital, National Clinical Research Center of Cancer, Tianjin 300060, China.
authors.forename: Han
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Liang
mesh_terms: D000230:Adenocarcinoma / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D000368:Aged; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D005260:Female; D005743:Gastrectomy / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000401:mortality; D006801:Humans; D053208:Kaplan-Meier Estimate; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D011183:Postoperative Complications / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000401:mortality / Q000628:therapy; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D013274:Stomach Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D013997:Time Factors; D016896:Treatment Outcome
keywords: Complication grade; Gastrectomy; Gastric cancer; Overall survival; Prognosis