Laparoscopic gastrectomy for organ-confined cancer: a reality in the West?

Minimally invasive surgery for gastric cancer in UK: current status and future perspectives

The aim of this study is to review the literature and report the various minimally invasive methods used to treat gastric cancer in the UK and compare it with worldwide practice. Published randomised studies, non-randomised studies and case series reporting the use of minimal invasive approach to treat gastric cancer were retrieved from the search of standard medical electronic databases and their outcomes were highlighted suggesting their effectiveness. Several randomised, controlled trials and meta-analyses have proven the clinical and oncological safety of the laparoscopic gastrectomy for gastric cancer. Similarly, robot-assisted gastrectomy, EMR (endoscopic mucosal resection) and ESD (endoscopic sub-mucosal dissection) have also been proven feasible and safe to treat gastric cancer of various stages in prospective and retrospective comparative studies. However, UK based studies on minimally invasive surgery to treat gastric cancer is scarce and the paucity of trials led to uncertain outcomes. Laparoscopic gastrectomy, robot-assisted gastrectomy, EMR and ESD are feasible procedures in terms of clinical and oncological safety but mainly being practiced in Asian countries with high prevalence of stomach cancer. The UK based practice is still small and limited but the introduction of MIGOCS and STOMACH trial might help to widen the application of this technique.

Gastric cancer treatment in the world: Germany

Epidemiologically, around 15,500 persons per year contract gastric cancer with continuously decreasing incidence and a 5-year survival rate of only 30% to 35%. Contrary to the Asian countries, there are no prevention programs for gastric cancer in Germany, which leads to the disease frequently being diagnosed in locally advanced stages and predominantly being treated with multimodal therapy concepts. Complete (R0) resection is the therapy of choice for resectable gastric cancer. Special forms of gastric cancer that are limited to the mucosa can be endoscopically resected with a curative intent. Systematic D2 lymphadenectomy (LAD) plays a decisive role in the management of local advanced tumors because it significantly contributes to the reduction of tumor-related death and both local and regional relapse rates. Perioperative chemotherapy improves prognosis in the advanced stages, whereas palliative chemotherapy is normally indicated for metastatic diseases. Standardized resection procedures and the use of individualized multimodal therapy concepts have led to improvement in the 5-year survival rate.

[Spectrum of laparoscopic surgery for gastric tumors]

Minimally invasive operative procedures are increasingly being used for treating tumors of the upper gastrointestinal tract. While minimally invasive surgery (MIS) has become established as a standard procedure for benign tumors and gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GIST) based on current studies, the significance of MIS in the field of gastric cancer is the topic of heated debate. Until now the majority of studies and meta-analyses on gastric cancer have come from Asia and these indicate the advantages of MIS in terms of intraoperative blood loss, minor surgical complications and swifter convalescence although without any benefits in terms of long-term oncological results and quality of life. Unlike in Germany, gastric cancer in Asia with its unchanged high incidence rate, 50 % frequency of early carcinoma and predominantly distal tumor localization is treated at high-volume centres. Due to the proven marginal advantages of MIS over open resection described in the published studies no general recommendation for laparoscopic surgery of gastric cancer can currently be given.

Surgical techniques, open versus minimally invasive gastrectomy after chemotherapy (STOMACH trial): study protocol for a randomized controlled trial

Background

Laparoscopic surgery has been shown to provide important advantages in comparison with open procedures in the treatment of several malignant diseases, such as less perioperative blood loss and faster patient recovery. It also maintains similar results with regard to tumor resection margins and oncological long-term survival. In gastric cancer the role of laparoscopic surgery remains unclear.

Current recommended treatment for gastric cancer consists of radical resection of the stomach, with a free margin of 5 to 6 cm from the tumor, combined with a lymphadenectomy. The extent of the lymphadenectomy is considered a marker for radicality of surgery and quality of care. Therefore, it is imperative that a novel surgical technique, such as minimally invasive total gastrectomy, should be non-inferior with regard to radicality of surgery and lymph node yield.

Methods/Design

The Surgical Techniques, Open versus Minimally invasive gastrectomy After CHemotherapy (STOMACH) study is a randomized, clinical multicenter trial. All adult patients with primary carcinoma of the stomach, in which the tumor is considered surgically resectable (T1-3, N0-1, M0) after neo-adjuvant chemotherapy, are eligible for inclusion and randomization. The primary endpoint is quality of oncological resection, measured by radicality of surgery and number of retrieved lymph nodes. The pathologist is blinded towards patient allocation. Secondary outcomes include patient-reported outcomes measures (PROMs) regarding quality of life, postoperative complications and cost-effectiveness. Based on a non-inferiority model for lymph node yield, with an average lymph node yield of 20, a non-inferiority margin of −4 and a 90% power to detect non-inferiority, a total of 168 patients are to be included.

Discussion

The STOMACH trial is a prospective, multicenter, parallel randomized study to define the optimal surgical strategy in patients with proximal or central gastric cancer after neo-adjuvant therapy: the conventional ‘open’ approach or minimally invasive total gastrectomy.

Trial registration

This trial was registered on 28 April 2014 at Clinicaltrials.gov with the identifier NCT02130726.

Totally laparoscopic versus open gastrectomy for gastric cancer: a matched cohort study

BACKGROUND

The role of laparoscopic surgery for the treatment of gastric cancer is still controversial, particularly in terms of oncologic efficacy. The aim of this study was to compare short-term outcomes of laparoscopic and open resection for gastric cancer at a single Western institution.

SUBJECTS AND METHODS

This study was designed as a matched cohort study from a prospective gastric cancer database. Forty-one patients undergoing laparoscopic gastrectomy for gastric cancer between June 2008 and January 2012 were matched with 41 patients undergoing open gastrectomy in the same time period. Patient pairing was done according to age, gender, type of gastrectomy (subtotal or total), and tumor stage via a randomized statistical method. The short-term outcomes and oncologic adequacy of the laparoscopic and open procedures were compared. A D2 lymph node dissection was performed in the majority of patients in both groups.

RESULTS

The two study groups were similar with respect to patient and tumor characteristics. Laparoscopic procedures were associated with a decreased blood loss (118.7 versus 312.4 mL, P<.005), incidence of surgery-unrelated complications (3 versus 9 patients, P<.05), and duration of hospital stay (8.1 versus 11.5 days, P<.05) but increased operative time for both subtotal (223.5 versus 158.2 minutes, P<.001) and total (298.1 versus 185.5 minutes, P<.001) gastrectomies. The mean number of retrieved lymph nodes after D2 dissection was similar: 30.0 for laparoscopic and 29.7 for open patients.

CONCLUSIONS

Within the limitations of a nonrandomized analysis, this study shows that the laparoscopic approach is a safe and oncologically adequate option for the treatment of gastric cancer, which compares favorably with open gastrectomy in short-term outcomes.