The Short- and Long-term Outcomes of Gastrectomy in Elderly Patients With Gastric Cancer.

BACKGROUND The short- and long-term outcomes of gastrectomy in elderly patients with gastric cancer have not been fully evaluated. PATIENTS AND METHODS Patients who underwent gastrectomy were classified into two groups: Non-elderly patients (<80 years old) and elderly patients (≥80 years old). The surgical morbidity, overall and cancer-specific survival in the two groups were compared. RESULTS A total of 411 patients were evaluated. The rate of overall complication was 29.4% in the non-elderly and 32.4% in the elderly (p=0.699). In the elderly, the overall and cancer-specific survival rates at 5 years after surgery were inferior to those of the younger group (59.8% vs. 66.7%, p=0.103 and 67.9% vs. 78.2%, p=0.028, respectively). CONCLUSION The short-term outcomes after gastrectomy were almost equal for the two groups in the present study. The prognosis was poor in elderly patients, especially those with advanced gastric cancer.