Clinicopathologic characteristics of serosa-positive gastric carcinoma in elderly patients

PURPOSE The relationship between the prognosis and the age of patients with gastric carcinoma is controversial. This study examined the clinicopathologic features of elderly gastric carcinoma patients with serosal invasion. METHODS We reviewed the hospital records of 136 elderly gastric carcinoma patients with serosal invasion retrospectively to compare the clinicopathologic findings in the elderly (aged > 70 years) and young (aged < 36 years). RESULTS The 5-year survival rates of elderly and young patients with curative resection did not differ statistically (33.9% vs. 43.3%; P = 0.318). Multivariate analysis showed that two factors were independent, statistically significant parameters associated with survival: histologic type (risk ratio, 1.805; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.041 to 3.132; P < 0.05) and operative curability (risk ratio, 2.506; 95% CI, 1.371 to 4.581; P < 0.01). CONCLUSION This study demonstrated that elderly gastric carcinoma patients with serosal invasion do not have a worse prognosis than young patients. The important prognostic factor was whether the patients underwent curative resection.