The Significance of Surgical Intervention for Metasynchronous Liver Metastasis in Gastric Cancer: A Single-centre Analysis

Abstract

Background/aim: This study investigated the influence of surgery for metasynchronous liver metastasis in gastric cancer on prognosis.

Patients and methods: A retrospective study was conducted involving 21 consecutive patients with gastric cancer with metasynchronous distant metastasis only in the liver after curative gastrectomy. The patients were divided into two groups: those who underwent hepatic resection and those who did not. The clinicopathological characteristics, recurrence-free survival (RFS), overall survival (OS), and disease-specific survival (DSS) were analysed.

Results: Among 981 gastrectomies performed in Tottori University Hospital between 2005 and 2019, 930 were curative. Among 153 cases of recurrence during the follow-up, 21 consecutive cases involving the liver only and metasynchronous recurrent metastasis on imaging were included in this study. The study included 16 males and five females with a median age of 70 years. No statistical difference in RFS (237 vs. 201 days; p=0.788) was observed between the hepatectomy and non-hepatectomy groups; however, OS (1,564 vs. 608 days, p=0.008) and DSS (1,597 vs. 608 days, p=0.006) were significantly prolonged in the hepatectomy group. Univariate and multivariate analyses revealed that hepatectomy was the only independent prognostic factor (hazard ratio=0.33; p=0.042).

Conclusion: Hepatic resection of heterogeneous liver metastases in gastric cancer seems to be a useful option that can be expected to cure the disease, which cannot be achieved by chemotherapy alone.

Keywords: Gastric cancer; hepatectomy; metasynchronous liver metastasis.