Preoperative Osteopenia as Risk Factor for Death from Other Diseases After Gastrectomy in Elderly Patients.

Background/Aim: Preoperative osteopenia, defined as low bone mineral density, is a prognostic factor in patients with digestive tract cancers, including gastric cancer (GC). However, the correlation between preoperative osteopenia and GC in elderly patients is unclear. Patients and Methods: We enrolled 251 patients who had undergone curative surgery for histopathologically diagnosed gastric adenocarcinoma from January 2008 to December 2012. Patients were classified into the non-elderly group (n=169) and the elderly group (n=82). Bone mineral density was calculated as the average pixel density (Hounsfield units) within a circle of the mid-vertebral core at the bottom of the 11th thoracic vertebra on preoperative computed tomography. Results: Although overall survival was significantly shorter in the elderly compared to the nonelderly group (p=0.0062), there was no significant difference in disease-specific survival between the two groups (p=0.71) because of the higher rate of death from other diseases. In addition, the elderly group had a significantly higher incidence of osteopenia (p<0.001) and a significantly lower prognostic nutritional index (p<0.001). Multivariate analysis revealed that preoperative osteopenia and a low preoperative prognostic nutritional index were significant risk factors for death from other diseases after gastrectomy in elderly patients. Conclusion: In elderly patients with GC, preoperative osteopenia is an important factor to consider in terms of both curability and death from other diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]