Clinical significance of preoperative regional intra-arterial infusion chemotherapy for advanced gastric cancer

AIM: Preoperative intra-arterial infusion chemotherapy could increase the radical resection rate of advanced gastric cancer, but its effect on the long-term survival has not been assessed. This study was designed to evaluate the clinical significance of preoperative intra-arterial infusion chemotherapy for advanced gastric cancer. METHODS: Clinicopathological data of 91 patients who underwent curative resection for advanced gastric cancer were collected. Among them, 37 patients undertaken preoperative intra-arterial infusion chemotherapy were used as the interventional chemotherapy group, and the remaining 54 patients as the control group. Eleven factors including clinicopathological variables, treatment procedures and molecular biological makers that might contribute to the long-term survival rate were analyzed using Cox multivariate regression analysis. RESULTS: The 5-year survival rate was 52.5% and 39.8%, respectively, for the interventional group and the control group (P<0.05). Cox multivariate regression analysis revealed that the TNM stage (P<0.001), preoperative intra-arterial infusion chemotherapy (P = 0.029) and growth pattern (P = 0.042) were the independent factors for the long-term survival of patients with advanced gastric cancer. CONCLUSION: Preoperative intra-arterial infusion chemotherapy plays an important role in improving the prognosis of advanced gastric cancer.