Pattern of abdominal nodal spread and optimal abdominal lymphadenectomy for advanced Siewert type II adenocarcinoma of the cardia: results of a multicenter study

Background It remains uncertain whether radical lymphadenectomy combined with total gastrectomy actually contributes to long-term survival for Siewert type II adenocarcinoma of the cardia. We identified the pattern of abdominal nodal spread in advanced type II adenocarcinoma and defined the optimal extent of abdominal lymphadenectomy. Methods Eighty-six patients undergoing R0 total gastrectomy for advanced type II adenocarcinoma were identified from the gastric cancer database of 4,884 patients. Prognostic factors were investigated by multivariate analysis. The therapeutic value of lymph node dissection for each station was estimated by multiplying the incidence of metastasis by the 5-year survival rate of patients with positive nodes in each station. Results The overall 5-year survival rate was 37.1 %. Age less than 65 years [hazard ratio, 0.455 (95 % confidence interval (CI), 0.261–0.793)] and nodal involvement with pN3 as referent [hazard ratio for pN0, 0.129 (95 % CI, 0.048–0.344); for pN1, 0.209 (95 % CI, 0.097–0.448); and for pN2, 0.376 (95 % CI, 0.189–0.746)] were identified as significant prognosticators for longer survival. Perigastric nodes of the lower half of the stomach in positions 4d–6 were considered not beneficial to dissect, whereas there were substantial therapeutic benefits to dissecting the perigastric nodes of the upper half of the stomach in positions 1–3 and the second-tier nodes in positions 7 and 11. Conclusions Limited lymphadenectomy attained by proximal gastrectomy might suffice as an alternative to extended lymphadenectomy with total gastrectomy for obtaining potential therapeutic benefit in abdominal lymphadenectomy for advanced Siewert type II adenocarcinoma.