title: Analysis of the Clinicopathological Characteristics of Gastric Cancer in Extremely Old Patients.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Gastric cancer is the third-leading cause of cancer-related death in Korea. As the Korean population is ageing, the number of extremely old patients with this disease is increasing. This study examined the clinicopathological characteristics of gastric cancer in extremely old (over 85 years) patients who received treatment or conservative observations and compared the treatment outcomes according to the treatment modality.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 170 patients over 85 years of age were diagnosed with gastric cancer. Of these, 81 underwent treatment for gastric cancer and 89 received conservative observations. The clinicopathological characteristics of the treatment and conservative groupswere compared.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The mean age of the patients was 86.5 years. The conservative group included significantly more patients with older ages, macroscopically advanced cancer and upper-middle located cancer. The overall survival rate of the treatment group was significantly higher than that of the conservative group. The disease-specific mortality rate was significantly lower in the treatment group than in the conservative group. Multivariate analysis revealed the clinical course, alarm sign, and macroscopic classification to be independent prognosis factors.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  By itself, the chronological age should not be used as a strategy to determine whether treatmentwill be administered for gastric cancer. Patients who have early gastric cancer or lower-risk preexisting comorbidities should not be discouraged from treatment, even if they are older than 85 years.
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Il Woong
authors.initials: IW
authors.lastname: Sohn
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Gangnam Severance Hospital, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Da Hyun
authors.initials: DH
authors.lastname: Jung
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Gangnam Severance Hospital, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Jie-Hyun
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Hyun Soo
authors.initials: HS
authors.lastname: Chung
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Jun Chul
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Park
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Sung Kwan
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Shin
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Sang Kil
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Yong Chan
authors.initials: YC
authors.lastname: Lee
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D015897:Comorbidity; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D060787:Neoplasm Grading; D009362:Neoplasm Metastasis; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D063868:Patient Outcome Assessment; D011379:Prognosis; D013274:Stomach Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology / Q000628:therapy; D015996:Survival Rate; D063189:Symptom Assessment; D047368:Tumor Burden
keywords: Aged; Oldest old; Stomach neoplasms; Therapy