Background: This study was designed to evaluate the prognostic value of tumour stage T2 subcategorization (T2a and T2b) in patients with gastric carcinoma.
Methods: Clinicopathological details of a prospective series of patients who had radical resection of gastric adenocarcinoma in a single institution were analysed. Univariable and multivariable survival analyses were performed with the log rank test and Cox's model respectively.
Results: Of 373 evaluable patients, 49 (13.1 per cent) had a T2a and 143 (38.3 per cent) a T2b tumour. At a median follow-up of 35.5 months, the 5-year overall survival rate was 73 and 31.1 per cent for patients with T2a and T2b lesions respectively (P < 0.001). On multivariable analysis, T stage remained an independent prognostic factor. Compared with T1a, the mortality risk for patients with T1b (hazard ratio (HR) 1.00; P = 0.992) and T2a (HR 0.97; P = 0.916) tumours was similar; by contrast, the risk of death associated with T2b (HR 1.81; P = 0.031) and T3 (HR 1.89; P = 0.038) lesions was significantly greater than for T1a tumours.
Conclusion: Subclassification of T2 tumours should be undertaken routinely in order to stratify patients with gastric cancer more accurately in terms of their mortality risk.
(c) 2009 British Journal of Surgery Society Ltd. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.