Prognostic impact of conversion surgery in patients with stage IV gastric cancer: A multicenter population-based cohort study.

BACKGROUND

The efficacy of conversion surgery (CS) for stage IV advanced gastric cancer (AGC) remains unclear. This study aimed to provide an overview of the clinical practice for Stage IV AGC and to evaluate the effectiveness of CS.

METHODS

This is a retrospective cohort study. Consecutive patients diagnosed with stage IV AGC between 2008 and 2015 at designated cancer hospitals in Fukushima Prefecture, Japan, were enrolled in this study. We evaluated the relationship between CS and survival time and calculated the adjusted hazard ratios of CS for overall survival.

RESULTS

A total of 647 patients were enrolled. CS was performed in 57 (8.8 %) patients. The CS group had fewer metastatic lesions (p = 0.01) and fewer liver metastases (p < 0.01) relative to the non-CS group. The adjusted hazard ratios of CS for overall survival were 0.34 (95 % confidence interval: 0.24-0.48, p < 0.01). The median survival time was 28.0 months in the CS group and 8.2 months in the non-CS group.

CONCLUSION

This study revealed the implementation status of CS for patients with stage IV AGC. CS may improve the patient prognosis.