Asians have better gastric cancer prognosis

Last Updated: 2016-01-26

By Reuters Staff

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Asians have better gastric cancer outcomes after gastric resection than non-Asians do, regardless of stage, according to new research.

Gastric adenocarcinoma is more common in Asian countries than in the West, but the reported overall survival of patients in Eastern studies is substantially higher than that reported in U.S. and Canadian studies.

Dr. Ioannis Hatzaras from New York University and colleagues from eight academic medical centers assessed the effect of race on recurrence and overall survival among 1,077 patients who underwent curative intent resection of gastric adenocarcinoma from 2000 to 2012.

Pathologic characteristics and staging did not differ significantly by race, according to the January 13 Journal of the American College of Surgeons online report.

Recurrence rates did not differ by race, but cumulative median survival did. It was significantly longer for Asian patients (141 months) than for Caucasians (35.8 months).

Asian race independently predicted 57% better survival risk for stage 1, 43% better for stage 2, and 55% better for stage 3, whereas Caucasian race independently predicted 63% worse survival risk for stage 1, 34% worse for stage 2, and 41% worse for stage 3. These stage by stage comparisons did not achieve statistical significance.

"We have found that Asian patients undergoing curative gastrectomy for gastric adenocarcinoma have better prognosis stage for stage, when compared to other races in a multi-institutional retrospective analysis," the authors conclude. "Ultimately, further studies are required to elucidate the underlying etiology of this phenomenon so that patients can be given the appropriate counseling regarding prognosis and management at the time of diagnosis."

Dr. Hatzaras declined a request for comment. The authors reported no funding or disclosures.

SOURCE: http://bit.ly/1Sh1FwF

J Am Coll Surg 2016.