The effect of demographic features on survival in patients with gastric cancer

Abstract

Aim: This study aimed to investigate the relationship between some demographic and clinical factors and survival in patients with gastric cancer. Materials and Methods: We retrospectively evaluated the records of 252 gastric cancer patients followed up in the medical oncology department between 01.01.2016 and 10.01.2020. Gastric lymphoma, gastrointestinal stromal tumor, and neuroendocrine tumor were excluded. Factors evaluated in the study included age, sex, urban/non-urban residence, admitting complaints, smoking history, Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) score, stage at diagnosis, histological subtype, surgical history, tumor location, grade, diameter and macroscopic view of tumor, metastatic lymph node ratio, chemotherapy regimens, febrile neutropenia, post-chemotherapy radiological reports, chemoradiotherapy (CRT) history and survival after diagnosis. Results: Mean overall survival (OS) time was significantly shorter in patients with weight loss (p<0.001), high ECOG score (p<0.001), radiological progression (p<0.001), advanced cancer stage (p<0.001) and tumor grade (p=0.024). Mean OS was longer in patients who received chemotherapy compared to those who did not at stage 4 (p<0.001). Mean OS was significantly longer in patients who underwent gastrectomy and received adjuvant CRT compared to those who did not (p<0.001). Mean OS was shorter in patients with a metastatic lymph node ratio over 30% (p<0.001) and those with tumor diameter larger than 3 cm (p=0.02). Conclusion: In this study, survival time was associated with advanced stage, ECOG score, weight loss, radiological progression, high tumor grade, history of gastrectomy and adjuvant CRT, metastatic lymph node ratio >30%, tumor diameter >3 cm and presence of palliative chemotherapy in terminal patients.