Survival benefits of additional surgery after non-curative endoscopic resection in patients with early gastric cancer: a meta-analysis

BackgroundThe survival benefit of additional surgery after non-curative endoscopic resection of early gastric cancer is a matter of debate. This meta-analysis is intended to draw a convincing conclusion on this issue based on data currently available.MethodsA systematic review of PubMed/Medline database was performed from 2010 to 2018 for studies comparing survival outcomes of additional surgery versus simple follow-up after non-curative endoscopic resection for early gastric cancer. Differences between groups were calculated using either the fixed effects model or random effects model.ResultsTen retrospective studies with 4225 patients met the inclusion criteria. Additional surgery significantly provided better 5years overall survival [odds ratios (OR) 3.50, 95% confidence interval (95% CI) 2.89-4.24] and disease-specific survival (OR 3.99, 95% CI 2.50-6.36).ConclusionsAdditional surgery offers survival benefits to patients undergoing non-curative endoscopic resection of early gastric cancer.