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. 2013;8(1):e54502.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0054502. Epub 2013 Jan 30.

Stage-stratified analysis of prognostic significance of tumor size in patients with gastric cancer

Hongliang Zu  1 , Feng Wang, Yan Ma, Yingwei Xue
Affiliations

Stage-stratified analysis of prognostic significance of tumor size in patients with gastric cancer

Hongliang Zu et al. PLoS One. 2013.

Erratum in

  • PLoS One. 2014;9(9):e109497

Abstract

Background: The prognostic significance of tumor size in gastric cancer is not well defined. The objective of this study was to identify the prognostic value of tumor size in patients with gastric cancer.

Methods: We retrospectively reviewed a total of 1800 patients with gastric cancer admitted to our hospital between 1997 and 2007. These patients were divided into two groups according to tumor size: small size group (SSG, tumor ≤5 cm) and large size group (LSG, tumor >5 cm). We compared clinico-pathologic features of the two groups and investigated the prognostic factors by performing univariate, multivariate, and stage- stratified analyses according to tumor size.

Results: LSG had more aggressive clinico-pathologic features than SSG. Tumor size was an independent prognostic indicator in patients with gastric cancer. In a stratified-pT, pN, and pTNM analysis, survival of patients with LSG was significantly worse than that of patients with SSG and advanced stage. Tumor size was not a significant predictor of survival in patients with early stage tumors. Large tumor size was associated with shorter survival in patients with stages N0, N1, N2, and N3, and stages I, II, III, and IV.

Conclusions: Tumor size is a simple and practical prognostic factor in patients with gastric cancer. Tumor size could supplement clinical staging in the future.

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Conflict of interest statement

Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. The distribution of number of patients ralated to tumor size.
Tumor size ranged from 0.5 to 25 cm (mean 5.68 cm, median 5.0 cm).
Figure 2
Figure 2. Kaplan-Meier survival curves in curative gastrectomy patients according to tumor size (n = 1320).
Prognosis of larger tumor size was worse than smaller tumor size in patients with gastric cancer(P<0·001). Five-year survival rates were 44.0% and 70.7% in LSG and SSG, respectively.
Figure 3
Figure 3. Kaplan-Meier survival curves in all underwent gastrectomy patients according to tumor size (n = 1800).
Prognosis of larger tumor size was worse than smaller tumor size in patients with gastric cancer (P<0·001). Five-year survival rates were 26.1% and 62.1% in LSG and SSG, respectively.
Figure 4
Figure 4. Survival curves for the 318 patients with stage I gastric cancer according to the tumor size (p = 0.000).
Figure 5
Figure 5. Survival curves for the 387 patients with stage II gastric cancer according to the tumor size (p = 0.000).
Figure 6
Figure 6. Survival curves for the 831 patients with stage III gastric cancer according to the tumor size (p = 0.000).
Figure 7
Figure 7. Survival curves for the 264 patients with stage IV gastric cancer according to the tumor size (p = 0.014).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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