Comparison of surgical outcomes of gastric cancer in elderly and middle-aged patients

Background: We compared clinicopathological features and results Of Surgery for gastric carcinoma in elderly and middle-aged patients to develop appropriate treatment for elderly patients with gastric carcinoma. Methods: Surgical results were assessed for 135 elderly patients (over 75 years old),and 665 middle-aged patients (between 45 and 65 years, old) with gastric cancer. Results: Distinct characteristics of elderly patients were male predominance; macroscopically well, or ill-defined, histologically differentiated tumors; and advanced stage disease. There was a significant difference in overall survival between the groups for early stage carcinomas but no difference in cause-specific survival. Postoperative morbidities did not differ between the curatively resected patients in the 2 groups. Moreover, deaths from other cancers or comorbid disease were frequent among the elderly. Conclusion: Meticulous treatment and follow-up not only for gastric carcinoma but also for other diseases would improve survival in elderly patients, particularly those with early-stage tumors. (c) 2006 Excerpta Medica Inc. All rights reserved.