HEPATO-GASTROENTEROLOGY, cilt.59, sa.117, ss.1657-1660, 2012 (SCI-Expanded)
Background/Aims: The aim of this study was to determine the ratio of patients with positive peritoneal cytology who underwent radical gastrectomy for gastric cancer, to evaluate the factors effecting risk of positive cytology and to analyze the effects cytology findings on survival. Methodology: Peritoneal lavage samples were obtained from 255 patients who underwent radical gastrectomy with D2 (184 patients) or D3 (71 patients) lymph node dissection between January 2000 and December 2007. Results: Thirty-six (14.1%) of 255 patients had free cancer cells in the wash cytology samples. T stage (T4) and differentiation were found to be independent risk factors for positive peritoneal cytology in multivariate analysis. Survival rate of cytology negative patients was significantly higher, however cytology findings were not found to be an independent prognostic factor for survival. T stage, lymph node metastasis and Borrmann classification (Borrmann type 4) appeared to be independent prognostic factors for survival in multivariate analyses. Conclusions: Peritoneal cytology does not provide additional information according to the TNM (1997) staging system. However, it should be employed intraoperatively before potentially curable serosa involved gastric carcinomas, especially for T4 tumors. Surgery alone will not be enough for patients with positive cytology and further therapies should be employed.