Abstract
BACKGROUND: Body weight, especially lean body mass, significantly decreases after gastrectomy for gastric cancer due to surgical invasion, reduced food intake, and reduced mobility, which can reduce the quality of life and induce associated toxicity or reduce compliance with adjuvant chemotherapy. Such risks can be particularly high in elderly patients with gastric cancer. However, whether or not changes in the weight and body composition differ between elderly and non-elderly patients remains unclear. PATIENTS AND METHODS: This retrospective study examined patients who underwent curative surgery for gastric cancer between May 2010 and February 2017. Body weight and composition were evaluated by a bioelectrical impedance analyzer within 1 week before surgery, at 1 week after surgery, and at 1 and at 3 months after surgery. Patients were classified as elderly (≥80 years) or non-elderly (<80 years). RESULTS: Eight-hundred and eighty-eight patients (84 elderly and 804 non-elderly) were entered into the present study. Patient background, surgical and clinicopathological factors, and surgical complications did not significantly differ between the two groups. Body weight loss at 1 week, and at 1 and 3 months after surgery, defined as the decrease from the preoperative value, were -2.8%, -6.5%, and -9.0%, respectively, in the elderly and -3.5%, -6.0%, and -8.1%, respectively, in the non-elderly patients (p=0.111, 0.125, and 0.153, respectively). The corresponding losses of lean body mass were -2.6%, -6.0%, and -6.4%, respectively, in the elderly and -3.5%, -4.9%, and -4.7%, respectively, in the non-elderly patients, with p-values of 0.056, 0.036, and 0.029, respectively. CONCLUSION: Decreases in lean body mass after gastrectomy were greater in elderly than in non-elderly patients. In order to maintain lean body mass among elderly patients, additional care and treatments are needed.