KEY TAKEAWAYS
- The study aimed to investigate the predictive role of NAR score and DDS in determining survival outcomes for GC patients.
- Researchers noticed that NAR score and DDS are reliable prognostic markers for survival prediction in locally advanced GC patients post-neoadjuvant therapy and curative surgery.
Clinical prediction models are vital for accurately prognosticating gastric cancer (GC) patients post-neoadjuvant therapy and guiding optimal treatment decisions.
S. Tamam and the team aimed to investigate the predictive roles of two prognostic factors, the neoadjuvant rectal (NAR) score and the downstaging depth score (DDS), in determining survival outcomes for patients who underwent neoadjuvant therapy followed by curative gastrectomy.
Researchers performed an inclusive analysis of medical records from 129 patients diagnosed with primary gastric cancer who underwent radical gastrectomy following neoadjuvant therapy. NAR score and DDS values were calculated for each patient, followed by survival analysis to evaluate the accuracy of these prognostic factors in predicting overall survival.
About 29 months was the median overall survival time observed among patients. Those with low NAR scores and high DDS demonstrated significantly prolonged overall survival. Univariate analyses, considering various clinical and laboratory characteristics, revealed associations between survival and factors such as gender, surgery type, resection type, neural invasion, grade, adjuvant radiotherapy, lymphocyte level, carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) level, NAR score, and DDS. Additionally, multivariate analyses identified lymphocyte level, DDS, and NAR score as independent prognostic factors.
The study concluded that NAR score and DDS are valuable prognostic markers for predicting overall survival in locally advanced gastric cancer patients undergoing neoadjuvant chemotherapy and curative surgery. Patients with high DDS and low NAR scores exhibited better prognoses.
Source: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38568130/
Tamam S, Culcu S, Erözkan K, et al. (2024). “Predicting survival in locally advanced gastric cancer using prognostic factors – neoadjuvant rectal score and downstaging depth score.” S Afr J Surg. 2024 Mar;62(1):72-79. PMID: 38568130.