Introduction: Treatments for young patients with gastric cancer (GC) remain poorly defined, and their effects on survival are uncertain. We aimed to investigate the receipt of chemotherapy by age category (18-49, 50-64, and 65-85 years) and explore whether age differences in chemotherapy matched survival gains in patients with GC.
Methods: Patients who were histologically diagnosed with GC were included from a Chinese multi-institutional database and the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results database. There were 5,122 and 31,363 patients aged 18-85 years treated between 2000 and 2014, respectively. Overall survival and stage-specific likelihood of receiving chemotherapy were evaluated.
Results: Of the 5,122 and 31,363 patients in China and Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Result data sets, 3,489 (68.1%) and 18,115 (57.8%) were men, respectively. Younger (18-49 years) and middle-aged (50-64 years) patients were more likely to receive chemotherapy compared with older patients (65-85 years) (64.9%, 56.7%, and 45.4% in the 3 groups from the China data set). Among patients treated with surgery alone, a significantly better prognosis was found in younger and middle-aged patients than their older counterparts; however, no significant differences were found in overall survival among age subgroups in patients who received both surgery and chemotherapy, especially in the China data set. The survival benefit from chemotherapy was superior among older patients (all P < 0.0001) compared with that among younger and middle-aged patients in stage II and III disease.
Discussion: Potential overuse of chemotherapy was found in younger and middle-aged patients with GC, but the addition of chemotherapy did not bring about matched survival improvement, especially in the China data set.