Trend in gastric cancer:35 years of surgical experience in Japan

AIM:To investigate the trend in gastric cancer surgery in the context of rapid therapeutic advancement in Japan and East Asia.METHODS:A retrospective analysis was performed on 4163 patients who underwent gastric resection for gastric cancer with histological confirmation between 1971 and 2007 at the surgical unit in Kitasato University Hospital,to determine the trend in gastric cancer requiring surgery.RESULTS:Gastric cancer requiring surgical resection increased in our hospital,but the incidence adjusted for population was constant during the observed pe-riod.Interestingly,the ratio of diffuse type/intestinal type gastric cancer was unexpectedly unchanged,and that of advanced/early gastric cancer(EGC)was,however,markedly reduced,while the actual incidence of potentially curative advanced gastric cancer tended to decrease.The incidence of EGC requiring surgery tended to increase as a whole,which is consistent with increased prevalence of endoscopic surveillance.As a result,overall survival and mortality of gastric cancer requiring gastric resection has recently markedly improved.CONCLUSION:In Japan,planned interventions may improve surgical gastric cancer mortality,but an unexpected trend of persistent existence of intestinal type cancer suggests the need for more robust medical intervention.

Newly emerging standard chemotherapies for gastric cancer and clinical potential in elderly patients

With the increase in average life expectancy,the rate of occurrence of gastric cancer in elderly patients is also rising.While many clinical trials have been conducted to examine the effect of chemotherapy treatment on gastric cancer,age limits for eligible subjects have prevented the establishment of standards for chemotherapy in elderly patients with gastric cancer.As of March 2009,evidence-based standard chemotherapy regimens were established.In the Western world,debates centered on the ECF(Epirubicin/cisplatin/5FU) or DCF(Docetaxel/cisplatin/5-FU) regimens based on the phase □ randomized controlled trial at the Royal Marsden Hospital(RMH) or the V325 study,respectively.The JCOG9912 and SPIRITS trials emerged from Japan indicating attractive regimens that include S-1 for advanced gastric cancer patients.Using these active anticancer drugs,the trials that studied the eff icacy of adjuvant therapies or surgical approaches,such as the Int-116/MAGIC/ACTS-GC trials,have actually succeeded in demonstrating the benefits of adjuvant therapies in gastric cancer patients.For cases of gastric cancer in elderly patients,treatment policies should consider these studies while analyzing not only the therapeutic effects but also drug toxicity,individual general health conditions,and social factors to select treatments that emphasize quality of life.