Effect of adjuvant chemoradiotherapy on overall survival of gastric cancer patients submitted to D2 lymphadenectomy

BACKGROUND: Adjuvant chemoradiotherapy (CRT) is the standard treatment in Western countries for gastric cancer patients submitted to curative resection. However, the role of adjuvant CRT in gastric cancer treated with D2 lymphadenectomy has not been well defined. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective study in patients with stage II to IV gastric adenocarcinoma with no distant metastases, who underwent curative resection with D2 lymphadenectomy between January 2002 and December 2007. The present study compared the 3-year overall survival of two treatments (adjuvant CRT according to the INT 0116 trial versus resection alone). Survival curves were estimated by the Kaplan–Meier method and compared with a log-rank test. Multivariate analysis of prognostic factors was performed by the Cox proportional hazards model. RESULTS: A total of 185 patients were included, 104 patients (56 %) received adjuvant CRT and 81 received resection alone. The 3-year overall survival was 64.4 % in the CRT group and 61.7 % in the resection-alone group (p: 0.415). However, according to the Cox proportional hazards model, adjuvant CRT was a prognostic factor for 3-year overall survival (hazard ratio [HR] 0.46, 95 % confidence interval [CI] 0.26–0.82, p: 0.008). CONCLUSIONS: In the present study, adjuvant CRT was associated with a lower risk of death over a 3-year period in gastric cancer patients treated with D2 lymphadenectomy.