Background/aims: The timing of sampling weight loss in the patients with gastric cancer undergoing surgical resection can be divided into 2 categories: prior to operation and postoperative follow-up as an outpatient. In this study, a third timing is proposed; the postoperative period during hospital stay. The purposes of this report were to identify the clinical variables related to postoperative weight loss during the hospital stay in gastric cancer patients and to investigate the influence of the weight loss on the long-term survival.
Methodology: Records of 313 patients who underwent gastrectomies for cancer between 1992 and 2003 were reviewed retrospectively. Patients were divided into 2 groups according to the median value of the rate of weight loss. Overall survival was estimated by the Kaplan-Meier Method.
Results: The postoperative hospital stays were significantly longer in the serious weight loss group than in the mild weight loss group. Developing complication, extended lymph node dissection, and operation time had the impact independently of the rate of weight loss. The overall survival was not different between the serious weight loss and the mild weight loss groups by a log-rank test (5-year survival, 70.1% vs. 70.5%, p = 0.82).
Conclusions: Although the serious weight loss during hospital stay means the true surgical damage in gastric cancer patients, it has no influence on the long-term survival.