Does a laparoscopic approach attenuate the body weight loss and lean body mass loss observed in open distal gastrectomy for gastric cancer? a single-institution exploratory analysis of the JCOG 0912 phase III trial

Background Laparoscopy-assisted distal gastrectomy (LADG) for gastric cancer may prevent the loss of body weight and lean body mass resulting from reduced surgical stress in comparison to open distal gastrectomy (ODG). A multicenter phase III trial conducted by the Japan Clinical Oncology Group (JCOG0912 trial) was performed to confirm the non-inferiority of LADG to ODG for stage I gastric cancer in terms of relapse-free survival.