Prognosis and surgical treatment of gastric cancer invading the pancreas

The clinicopathologic characteristics of gastric cancer invading the pancreas have not been determined. Gastrectomy was performed in 282 patients with gastric cancer invading adjacent organs at the Department of Surgery II, Kyushu University Hospital, between 1970 and 1987, and patient data were retrospectively analyzed using univariate and multivariate analyses. Of these patients, 150 (53.2%) had tumors invading the pancreas and 132 had tumors invading adjacent organs other than the pancreas. In both groups, the undifferentiated tissue type with infiltrative growth, lymphatic involvement and lymph node metastasis was common. In cases of pancreas invasion, the extent of lymph node metastasis was more severe, vascular involvement was more frequent and the rate of concomitant liver metastasis was higher. The survival time of the patients with pancreas invasion was shorter compared to patients with cancer invading other organs, and pancreas involvement was one of the independent factors predicting a poor prognosis. With respect to surgical treatment of gastric cancer invading the pancreas, the prognosis was better for cases treated with curative surgery and pancreas resection. Of 39 patients treated with partial resection of the pancreas, the tumor had invaded only the capsule of the pancreas in 18 and the pancreas in the other 21. Pancreas-invasive gastric cancer cells are likely to advance via lymphatic and vascular routes and survival time is shorter, but curative resection can improve the survival rate, and perioperative treatment should be appropriately designed. Copyright (C) 2000 S. Karger AG, Basel.