title: Surgical and Survival Outcome Following Truly Palliative Gastrectomy in Patients with Incurable Gastric Cancer.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Gastrectomy is sometimes performed even in patients with incurable factors, particularly when they have urgent symptoms. The aim of this study was to clarify the clinicopathological characteristics of patients undergoing palliative gastrectomy and to identify prognostic factors.
  
  
  METHODS
  This study included consecutive 137 gastric cancer patients with urgent symptoms who underwent gastrectomy with macroscopic residual tumor at Shizuoka Cancer Center. Clinicopathological characteristics and surgical outcomes were investigated. In addition, we used the Cox proportional hazards model to identify independent prognostic factors.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of 137 patients, urgent symptoms were bleeding in 58 patients and stenosis in 112 patients. Postoperative complications were observed in 58 patients (42 %). Chemotherapy was given after surgery in 94 patients (70 %). Median survival time for all patients was 9.9 months, and was longer in patients receiving chemotherapy (11.1 months) than in those not receiving chemotherapy (6.8 months; p = 0.002). Multivariate analysis identified macroscopic type (hazard ratio, 0.471; 95 % confidence interval, 0.364-0.927) as an independent prognostic factor.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The postoperative complication rate was high and survival outcome was poor in patients undergoing palliative gastrectomy. Postoperative chemotherapy may carry a better survival outcome, so we should try to give chemotherapy after palliative gastrectomy.
authors.affiliation: Division of Gastric Surgery, Shizuoka Cancer Center, 1007 Shimonagakubo, Nagaizumi-cho, Sunto-gun, Shizuoka, 411-8777, Japan. m.tokunaga@scchr.jp.
authors.forename: Masanori
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tokunaga
authors.affiliation: Division of Gastric Surgery, Shizuoka Cancer Center, 1007 Shimonagakubo, Nagaizumi-cho, Sunto-gun, Shizuoka, 411-8777, Japan.
authors.forename: Rie
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Makuuchi
authors.affiliation: Division of Gastric Surgery, Shizuoka Cancer Center, 1007 Shimonagakubo, Nagaizumi-cho, Sunto-gun, Shizuoka, 411-8777, Japan.
authors.forename: Yuichiro
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Miki
authors.affiliation: Division of Gastric Surgery, Shizuoka Cancer Center, 1007 Shimonagakubo, Nagaizumi-cho, Sunto-gun, Shizuoka, 411-8777, Japan.
authors.forename: Yutaka
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Tanizawa
authors.affiliation: Division of Gastric Surgery, Shizuoka Cancer Center, 1007 Shimonagakubo, Nagaizumi-cho, Sunto-gun, Shizuoka, 411-8777, Japan.
authors.forename: Etsuro
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Bando
authors.affiliation: Division of Gastric Surgery, Shizuoka Cancer Center, 1007 Shimonagakubo, Nagaizumi-cho, Sunto-gun, Shizuoka, 411-8777, Japan.
authors.forename: Taiichi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kawamura
authors.affiliation: Division of Gastric Surgery, Shizuoka Cancer Center, 1007 Shimonagakubo, Nagaizumi-cho, Sunto-gun, Shizuoka, 411-8777, Japan.
authors.forename: Masanori
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Terashima
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D017024:Chemotherapy, Adjuvant; D005260:Female; D005743:Gastrectomy / Q000401:mortality*; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010166:Palliative Care; D011183:Postoperative Complications; D013274:Stomach Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality* / Q000628:therapy*