PALLIATIVE GASTRECTOMY VERSUS GASTRIC BYPASS FOR SYMPTOMATIC CLINICAL STAGE IV GASTRIC CANCER: A PROPENSITY SCORE MATCHING ANALYSIS.

Background: Patients with clinical stage IV gastric cancer may require palliative procedures to manage complications such as obstruction. However, there is no consensus on whether performing palliative gastrectomy compared to gastric bypass brings benefits in terms of survival.

Aims: To compare the overall survival of patients with distal obstructive gastric cancer undergoing palliative surgical treatment, using propensity score matching analysis.

Methods: Patients who underwent palliative bypass surgery (gastrojejunostomy or partitioning) and resection between the years 2009 and 2023 were retrospectively selected. Initial and postoperative clinicopathological variables were collected.

Results: 150 patients were initially included. The derived group (n=91) presented more locally invasive disease (p<0.01), greater degree of obstruction (p<0.01), and worse clinical status (p<0.01), while the resected ones (n= 59) presented more distant metastasis (p<0.01). After matching, 35 patients remained in each group. There was no difference in the incidence of postoperative complications, but the derived group had higher 90-day mortality (p<0.01). Overall survival was 16.9 and 4.5 months for the resected and derived groups, respectively (p<0.01). After multivariate analysis, hypoalbuminemia (hazard ratio - HR=2.02, 95% confidence interval - 95%CI 1.17-3.48; p=0.01), absence of adjuvant chemotherapy (HR=5.97; 95%CI 3.03-11.7; p<0.01), and gastric bypass (HR=3,28; 95%CI 1.8-5.95; p<0.01) were associated with worse survival.

Conclusions: Palliative gastrectomy was associated with greater survival and lower postoperative morbidity compared to gastric bypass. This may be due to better local control of the disease, with lower risks of complications and better effectiveness of chemotherapy.