Background/aims: The objective of the present study was to establish an effective follow-up method to analyze the features of patients who relapsed after curative gastrectomy.
Methodology: At the Department of General Surgical Science, Gunma University, 44 of 321 patients who underwent curative gastrectomy for gastric cancer from 2002 to 2006 were found to relapse. The patients were divided into an early-recurrence group (n = 23; relapse within one year of gastrectomy) and a late-recurrence group (n = 21; relapse one year or more after gastrectomy). The clinicopathological features were examined.
Results: The patients in the early-recurrence group were characterized by a high level of lymph node metastases (> or = N2), Stage IIIB, and the presence of vascular invasion (v2, v3). On a multiple logistic regression analysis, the depth of wall invasion (> or = T3), level of lymph node metastases (> or = N2), and degree of vascular invasion (v2, v3) were significantly correlated with recurrence within one year of gastrectomy.
Conclusions: Careful follow-up including frequent imaging diagnosis, e.g., using computed tomography (CT), is required for patients with a high risk of recurrence.