A nonrandomized controlled trial: long-term outcomes of LATG/LAPG for cStage I gastric cancer: Japan Clinical Oncology Group Study JCOG1401

A previous report confirmed the safety of laparoscopy-assisted total and proximal gastrectomies (LATG and LAPG) (JCOG1401). This report demonstrates the 5-year relapse-free survival (RFS) and overall survival (OS) after long-term follow-up to confirm the efficacy of these surgical methods as key secondary endpoints for cStage I gastric cancer.

This study enrolled patients who had histologically proven gastric adenocarcinoma and were diagnosed with clinical T1N0, T1N(+), or T2N0 tumors according to the 14th edition of the Japanese Classification of Gastric Carcinoma (3rd English edition).

Between April 2015 and February 2017, 246 patients were enrolled, although one patient was excluded because of misregistration. Meticulous follow-up was continued for > 5 years for each patient, and the data were analyzed in March 2022. The 5-year RFS was 90.0% (95% confidence interval [CI] 85.5–93.2%), and the 5-year OS was 91.2% (95% CI 86.9–94.2%) in all enrolled patients. Grade 3 or 4 late postoperative complications were detected in 12.7% of patients.

This single-arm study showed that the long-term outcomes of LATG/LAPG for cStage I gastric cancer were acceptable, which is considered one of the standard treatments when performed by experienced surgeons.

Trail registration UMIN000017155 (http://www.umin.ac.jp/ctr/).