OBJECTIVETo analyze the characteristics of recurrence in gastric cancer patients after radical gastrectomy and adjuvant chemotherapy.

METHODSThe clinicopathological data of 110 gastric cancer patients who developed recurrence or second primary malignancies after radical gastrectomy and adjuvant chemotherapy with FOLFOX4 regimen or docetaxel plus FOLFOX4 regimen were analyzed retrospectively.

RESULTSThe median time to recurrence was 13.9 months (range, 1.7 to 63.1 months), and the median overall survival was 27.4 months (range, 6.9 to 90.7 months) in the whole group. The median survival time after recurrence was 10.1 months (range, 0.3 to 73.9 months). 82 (74.5%) patients had recurrence within 2 years after gastrectomy. The modes of surgical procedure and lymph node dissection influenced significantly on the time to recurrence (P<0.05 for both). Among the 110 patients with recurrence, 46 (41.8%) patients had peritoneal metastases, 33 (30.0%) had hematogenous metastases and 32 (29.1%) had locoregional lymph node metastases. Single, double, triple and quatro recurrences were observed at the first time of relapse in 78 (70.9%), 21(19.1%), 9(8.2%) and 2 cases (1.8%), respectively. Patients who developed simultaneous quatro recurrence had the poorest prognosis with a median overall survival of 15.2 months, significantly shorter than that of patients with single recurrence (31.8 months, P=0.003). Patients with peritoneal recurrence died most quickly ( mean 5.6 months), and patients with surgical field recurrence alone survived longest (mean 17.1 months).

CONCLUSIONSPeritoneal, hematogenous and locoregional lymph node metastases are the most frequent recurrences after radical gastrectomy and adjuvant chemotherapy in patients with gastric cancer. Single recurrence occurred in most patients at the first relapse. Combination with other adjuvant treatments should be considered besides adjuvant chemotherapy in gastric cancer patients after radical gastrectomy.