Objective To investigate the influencing factors and prognosis of early recurrence after gastrectomy for gastric cancer.

Methods The retrospective cohort study was conducted. The clinicopathological data of 2 078 patients who underwent gastrectomy for gastric cancer at six medical centers across China, including Fudan University Shanghai Cancer Center et al, between January 2012 and June 2023 were collected. There were 1 449 males and 629 females, aged (59±11) years. Patients were classified as early recurrence and late recurrence based on the time of post-operative recurrence. Observation indicators: (1) comparison of clinicopathological characteristics between gastric cancer patients with different recurrence types; (2) recurrence and metastasis of tumor; (3) survival of patients after postoperative recurrence of gastric cancer; (4) analysis of influencing factors for early recurrence after gastrectomy for gastric cancer. Comparison of measurement data with normal distribution between groups was conducted using the independent sample t test. Comparison of measurement data with skewed distribution between groups was conducted using the Mann-Whitney U test. Comparison of count data between groups was conducted using the chi-square test. Comparison of ordinal data between groups was conducted using the rank sum test. Multivariate analysis was conducted using the Logistic regression model. Kaplan-Meier method was used to calculate survival rate and plot survival curve, and Log-rank test was used for survival analysis.

Results (1) Comparison of clinicopathological characteristics between gastric cancer patients with different recurrence types. Among the 2 078 patients, 1 452 cases had early recurrence and 626 cases had late recurrence. There were significant differences in preoperative carcinoembryonic antigen, preoperative CA19-9, preoperative CA72-4, preoperative albumin, tumor diameter, neoadjuvant therapy, R₀ resection, combined organ resection, scope of gastric resection, nerve and vessel infiltration, degree of tumor differentiation, pathological N staging, pathological TNM staging between early and late recurrence patients (P < 0.05). (2) Recurrence and metastasis of tumor. Among the 2 078 patients, 200 cases had local recurrence, 1 213 cases had hematogenous metastases, 392 cases had distant lymph node metastases, and 731 cases had peritoneal metastases. Among the 1 452 early recurrence patients, 142 cases had local recurrence, 834 cases had hematogenous metastases, 289 cases had distant lymph node metastases, and 507 cases had peritoneal metastases. Among the 626 late recurrence patients, 58 cases had local recurrence, 379 cases had hematogenous metastases, 103 cases had distant lymph node metastases, and 224 cases had peritoneal metastases. One patient may have multiple forms of recurrence and metastasis. There was no significant difference in the above indica-tors between early and late recurrence patients (χ²=0.13, 1.74, 3.40, 0.14, P > 0.05). (3) Survival of patients after postoperative recurrence of gastric cancer. All 2 078 patients were followed up until death after recurrence, with a follow-up time of 31(range, 9‒147)months. The 1-, 2-, 3-, and 5-year overall survival rates after recurrence were 33.5%, 17.2%, 10.1%, and 3.3% in early recurrence patients, versus 44.2%, 21.6%, 12.8%, and 5.8% in late recurrence patients, respectively, showing a significant difference in overall survival after recurrence between the two groups (hazard ratio=0.84, 95% confidence interval as 0.76‒0.92, P < 0.05). (4) Analysis of influencing factors for early recurrence after gastrectomy for gastric cancer. Results of multivariate analysis showed that combined organ resection, total gastrectomy, pathological TNM staging as stage Ⅲ were independent risk factors for early recurrence after gastrectomy for gastric cancer (odds ratio=1.31, 1.32, 1.34, 95% confidence interval as 1.01‒1.70, 1.06‒1.65, 1.05‒1.71, P < 0.05) and normal preoperative tumor markers, neoadjuvant therapy, R₀ resection were independent protective factors for early recurrence (odds ratio=0.61, 0.50, 0.38, 95% confidence interval as 0.49‒0.76, 0.35‒0.72, 0.25‒0.58, P < 0.05).

Conclusions Compared with patients with late recurrence after gastric cancer surgery, patients with early recurrence have a poor prognosis, in which liver metastases is more common. Combine organ resection, total gastrectomy, pathological TNM staging as stage Ⅲ are independent risk factors for early recurrence, and normal preoperative tumor markers, neoadjuvant therapy, R₀ resection are independent protective factors for early recurrence after gastrectomy for gastric cancer.