The Outcomes of Esophageal and Gastric Cancer Treatments in a Retrospective Study, Single Center Experience

INTRODUCTION: Esophageal and gastric cancers are among the most common cancers in Iran. Usually survival of these cases is poor despite of treatment. Here we studied outcome of these cases in our center to have an estimation of general prognosis of patients. METHODS: In this retrospective study, we reviewed the data of patient's files before treatment, including cancer stage at diagnosis, types of treatments and outcomes. We studied 368 patients treated between 1995 and 2011. RESULTS: The study included 368 patients (248 [67.4%] males and 120 [32.6%] females) with a median age of 58 (range: 23 - 94). Sixty nine patients (18.8%) had esophageal cancer with a median age of 58.5 years (range: 33 – 84), and 47.8% (33/69) of whom were male. Sixty five (17.7%) were reported to have gastro-esophageal junction (GEJ) with a median age of 62.0 (range: 32 – 94), among them 72.3% (47/65) of whom were male and finally Two hundred thirty four (63.6%) had gastric cancer with a median age of 57.0 (range: 23 – 82), which 71.8% (168/234) of whom were male. The Median follow-up was 10 months. The majority of patients were diagnosed at an advanced stage of disease. Stage III or IV was observed in 65.0% (39/60) of patients with esophageal cancer, 75.0% (33/44) with GEJ cancer and 65.4% (121/185) with gastric cancer. In this study, 58% of patients with esophageal cancer, 50.8% with GEJ and gastric cancers had unresectable disease or metastases at presentation. One-year EFS was 51.8% (95% CI: 39.8 – 67.3%), 32.8% (95% CI: 22.1 – 48.7%), and 56.7% (95% CI: 50.1 – 64.3%) in patients with esophageal, GEJ and gastric cancers, respectively (p = 0.002). The 1-year OS was 54.5% (95% CI: 42.6 – 69.8%), 39.5% (95 CI: 28.1 – 55.5%), and 68.2% (95% CI: 61.8 – 75.3%), respectively (p < 0.001). CONCLUSION: Cancers of the upper gastrointestinal (GI) tract contribute to the high mortality and morbidity rates because they are more likely to be diagnosed at late or advanced stages of disease. Cancer of the GEJ has a poor prognosis compared to esophageal and gastric cancers. Moreover, treatment protocols may need improvement to achieve better results.