Gastric cancer surgical management differs between Eastern Asia and Western countries. Extended lymphadenectomy (D2) is the standard of care in Japan and South Korea since decades, while the majority of United States ...Gastric cancer surgical management differs between Eastern Asia and Western countries. Extended lymphadenectomy (D2) is the standard of care in Japan and South Korea since decades, while the majority of United States patients receive at most a limited lymphadenectomy (D1). United States and Northern Europe are considered the scientific leaders in medicine and evidence-based procedures are the cornerstone of their clinical practice. However, surgeons in Eastern Asia are more experienced, as there are more new cases of gastric cancer in Japan (107898 in 2012) than in the entire European Union (81592), or in South Korea (31269) than in the entire United States (21155). For quite a long time evidence-based medicine (EBM) did not solve the question whether D2 improves long-term prognosis with respect to D1. Indeed, eastern surgeons were reluctant to perform D1 even in the frame of a clinical trial, as their patients had a very good prognosis after D2. Evidence-based surgical indications provided by Western trials were questioned, as surgical procedures could not be properly standardized. In the present study we analyzed indications about the optimal extension of lymphadenectomy in gastric cancer according to current scientific literature (2008-2012) and surgical guidelines. We searched PubMed for papers using the key words “lymphadenectomy or D1 or D2” AND “gastric cancer” from 2008 to 2012. Moreover, we reviewed national guidelines for gastric cancer management. The support to D2 lymphadenectomy increased progressively from 2008 to 2012: since 2010 papers supporting D2 have achieved a higher overall impact factor than the other papers. Till 2011, D2 was the procedure of choice according to experts’ opinion, while three meta-analyses found no survival advantage after D2 with respect to D1. In 2012-2013, however, two meta-analyses reported that D2 improves prognosis with respect to D1. D2 lymphadenectomy was proposed as the standard of care for advanced gastric cancer by Japanese National Guidelines since 1981 and was adopted as the standard procedure by the Italian Research Group for Gastric Cancer since the Nineties. D2 is now indicated as the standard of surgical treatment with curative intent by the German, British and ESMO-ESSO-ESTRO guidelines. At variance American NCCN guidelines recommend a D1<sup>+</sup> or a modified D2 lymph node dissection. In conclusion, D2 lymphadenectomy, originally developed by Eastern surgeons, is now becoming the procedure of choice also in the West. In gastric cancer surgery EBM is lagging behind national guidelines, rather than preceding and orienting them. To eliminate this lag, EBM should value to a larger extent Eastern Asian literature and should evaluate not only the quality of the study design but also the quality of surgical procedures.展开更多
AIM To analyze the clinicopathological characteristics of patients with both node-negative gastric carcinoma and diagnosis of recurrence during follow-up. METHODS We enrolled 41 patients treated with curative gastrect...AIM To analyze the clinicopathological characteristics of patients with both node-negative gastric carcinoma and diagnosis of recurrence during follow-up. METHODS We enrolled 41 patients treated with curative gastrectomy for p T2-4 a N0 gastric carcinoma between 1992 and 2010,who developed recurrence(Group 1). We retrospectively selected this group from the prospectively collected database of 4 centers belonging to the Italian Research Group for Gastric Cancer,and compared them with 437 p T2-4 a N0 patients without recurrence(Group 2). We analyzed lymphatic embolization,microvascular infiltration,perineural infiltration,and immunohistochemical determination of p53,Ki67,and HER2 in Group 1 and in a subgroup of Group 2(Group 2 bis) of 41 cases matched with Group 1 according to demographic and pathological characteristics. RESULTS T4 a stage and diffuse histotype were associated with recurrence in the group of p N0 patients. In-depth pathological analysis of two homogenous groups of p N0 patients,with and without recurrence during longterm follow-up(groups 1 and 2 bis),revealed two striking patterns: lymphatic embolization and perineural infiltration(two parameters that pathologists can easily report),and p53 and Ki67,represent significant factors for recurrence.CONCLUSION The reported pathological features should be considered predictive factors for recurrence and could be useful to stratify node-negative gastric cancer patients for adjuvant treatment and tailored follow-up.展开更多
文摘Gastric cancer surgical management differs between Eastern Asia and Western countries. Extended lymphadenectomy (D2) is the standard of care in Japan and South Korea since decades, while the majority of United States patients receive at most a limited lymphadenectomy (D1). United States and Northern Europe are considered the scientific leaders in medicine and evidence-based procedures are the cornerstone of their clinical practice. However, surgeons in Eastern Asia are more experienced, as there are more new cases of gastric cancer in Japan (107898 in 2012) than in the entire European Union (81592), or in South Korea (31269) than in the entire United States (21155). For quite a long time evidence-based medicine (EBM) did not solve the question whether D2 improves long-term prognosis with respect to D1. Indeed, eastern surgeons were reluctant to perform D1 even in the frame of a clinical trial, as their patients had a very good prognosis after D2. Evidence-based surgical indications provided by Western trials were questioned, as surgical procedures could not be properly standardized. In the present study we analyzed indications about the optimal extension of lymphadenectomy in gastric cancer according to current scientific literature (2008-2012) and surgical guidelines. We searched PubMed for papers using the key words “lymphadenectomy or D1 or D2” AND “gastric cancer” from 2008 to 2012. Moreover, we reviewed national guidelines for gastric cancer management. The support to D2 lymphadenectomy increased progressively from 2008 to 2012: since 2010 papers supporting D2 have achieved a higher overall impact factor than the other papers. Till 2011, D2 was the procedure of choice according to experts’ opinion, while three meta-analyses found no survival advantage after D2 with respect to D1. In 2012-2013, however, two meta-analyses reported that D2 improves prognosis with respect to D1. D2 lymphadenectomy was proposed as the standard of care for advanced gastric cancer by Japanese National Guidelines since 1981 and was adopted as the standard procedure by the Italian Research Group for Gastric Cancer since the Nineties. D2 is now indicated as the standard of surgical treatment with curative intent by the German, British and ESMO-ESSO-ESTRO guidelines. At variance American NCCN guidelines recommend a D1<sup>+</sup> or a modified D2 lymph node dissection. In conclusion, D2 lymphadenectomy, originally developed by Eastern surgeons, is now becoming the procedure of choice also in the West. In gastric cancer surgery EBM is lagging behind national guidelines, rather than preceding and orienting them. To eliminate this lag, EBM should value to a larger extent Eastern Asian literature and should evaluate not only the quality of the study design but also the quality of surgical procedures.
文摘AIM To analyze the clinicopathological characteristics of patients with both node-negative gastric carcinoma and diagnosis of recurrence during follow-up. METHODS We enrolled 41 patients treated with curative gastrectomy for p T2-4 a N0 gastric carcinoma between 1992 and 2010,who developed recurrence(Group 1). We retrospectively selected this group from the prospectively collected database of 4 centers belonging to the Italian Research Group for Gastric Cancer,and compared them with 437 p T2-4 a N0 patients without recurrence(Group 2). We analyzed lymphatic embolization,microvascular infiltration,perineural infiltration,and immunohistochemical determination of p53,Ki67,and HER2 in Group 1 and in a subgroup of Group 2(Group 2 bis) of 41 cases matched with Group 1 according to demographic and pathological characteristics. RESULTS T4 a stage and diffuse histotype were associated with recurrence in the group of p N0 patients. In-depth pathological analysis of two homogenous groups of p N0 patients,with and without recurrence during longterm follow-up(groups 1 and 2 bis),revealed two striking patterns: lymphatic embolization and perineural infiltration(two parameters that pathologists can easily report),and p53 and Ki67,represent significant factors for recurrence.CONCLUSION The reported pathological features should be considered predictive factors for recurrence and could be useful to stratify node-negative gastric cancer patients for adjuvant treatment and tailored follow-up.
