Is age a limit for surgical treatment of gastric cancer

Results Mean age was 65.7 years (± 11.22). Patients were divided into 2 groups: ≤70 years ("young") and >71 years ("elders"). The first group included 177 patients (60.8%), and the second 114 (39.2%). ASA score has been expressed in all the cases: 81.9% of the young patients had ASA 1–2, while 96.5% of the elderly patients had an ASA between 2 and 3 (p 31%. In young people we have respectively observed for the three categories a rate of 40.1%, 33.3% and 26.6%, while in the elders 53.3%, 28.1% and 18.4% (N.S). However, taking into consideration the stage of the tumor, a tendency emerged in young people to show a more advanced stage with respect to the elderly patients (p = 0.026). The evaluation of the histological type according to Lauren has highlighted the presence of the diffuse pattern in 54.2% of young people with respect to the 36.0% of the elders (p = 0.002). Post-operative morbidity, divided into those of infectious type (abscesses, peritonitis, sepsis), cardio-respiratory and techniques (anastomotic leak) have respectively, in young and elders group, of 5.1% and 7.9% (infectious); (p = ns), cardio-respiratory of 6.2% and 19.3% (p = 0.001), anastomotic leak of 2.3% and 5.3% (p = ns). Actuarial survival at 1 and 5 years has been respectively 84.7% and 44% in the young group, and 72.8% and 31.6% in the elderly (p = 0.002), (Figure 1). But these differences disappear comparing survival and the ASA score between groups (Figures 2, 3).