Key clinical point: In patients with locally advanced gastric cancer (LAGC), neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NACT) followed by laparoscopic gastrectomy (LG) vs upfront LG is associated with a lower rate of severe postoperative complications and improved survival.
Major finding: Grade ≥ 3 severe postoperative complication rate was significantly lower in the NACT-LG vs upfront LG group (0% vs 17.1%; P = .001). The postoperative complication-related death rate was 0% in the NACT-LG group vs 2.9% in the upfront LG group. NACT-LG vs upfront LG was associated with improved disease-free survival (14.4% vs 5.7%; P = .0299) and overall survival (34.1% vs 8.6%; P = .0061) at 3 years.
Study details: This was a retrospective study of 76 consecutive patients with LAGC who received either LG following NACT or upfront LG between March 2013 and October 2018.
Disclosures: This study did not receive any funding. The authors declare no competing interests.
Source: Liu L et al. The safety and efficacy of laparoscopic gastrectomy for patients with locally advanced gastric cancer following neoadjuvant chemotherapy. Sci Rep. 2022;12:10384 (Jun 20). Doi: 10.1038/s41598-022-14717-6