Body mass index determines the success of lymph node dissection and predicts the outcome of gastric carcinoma patients

We tried to determine the role of the body mass index (BMI) on the extent o f lymph node dissection in gastric cancer surgery. Seven hundred and eighty -seven patients with gastric carcinoma were reviewed. Ninety-two (11%) pati ents exceeded the upper limit of the optimum BMI, Significantly fewer lymph nodes were removed following D2 (p = 0.002) and greater than or equal to D 3 (p = 0.023) dissections, and the lymph node ratio was significantly (p = 0.0383) higher in overweight patients. The recurrence-free survival was sig nificantly (p = 0.0297) shorter in T2/T3 cases with high BMI, and BMI (rela tive risk 1.85) became an independent prognostic factor in multivariate ana lysis. Higher BMI hampers regional lymph node dissection in gastric cancer patients and became an independent predictor of disease recurrences in T2/T 3 gastric cancers. Copyright (C) 2000 S. Karger AG, Basel.