Is timing of death from tumor recurrence predictable after curative resection for gastric cancer?

It is still difficult to predict whether cancer in patients who undergo cur ative gastrectomy for gastric cancer will recur and when they will die of r ecurrence. This study clarified predictive factors related to timing of dea th from tumor recurrence. A multivariate analysis was used to assess the de pendence of death on postoperative tumor recurrence and the dependence of t he timing of death on tumor recurrence. Patients were divided into two grou ps according to the timing of death: those who died of tumor recurrence les s than 2 years after surgery and those who died more than 2 years after sur gery. Depth of cancer invasion, regional lymph node metastasis, and tumor s ize were independently correlated with tumor recurrence after curative gast rectomy. Only the depth of cancer invasion independently correlated with th e timing of death due to tumor recurrence. It might be possible to predict the timing of death from tumor recurrence by the depth of cancer invasion i nto the gastric wall.