Perioperative anemia is an independent prognostic factor for gastric cancer patients who receive curative treatment

Aim: Previous reports showed that cancer patients including gastric cancer (GC) developed anemia in 30-90% in the perioperative periods. We evaluated the clinical impacts of anemia during perioperative periods for both short- and long-term oncological outcomes in resectable GC who received curative treatment.Patients: We conducted a retrospective review of medical records and collected data on consecutive patients with GC who underwent curative resection a between 2015 and 2022.Results: A total of 330 patients evaluated in this study. We set the cut-off value of preoperative hemoglobin as 11.0g/dl in the present study. Three- and five-year overall survival rates were 59.8% and 47.0% in patients with hemoglobin status less than 11g/dl, while 86.0% and 80.0% in those with hemoglobin status more than 11g/dl. Uni-and multivariate analysis demonstrated that preoperative hemoglobin status was selected as one of the independent prognostic factors for overall survival (Hazard ratio (HR): 1.772, p=0.017). Moreover, preoperative hemoglobin status was selected as one of the independent prognostic factors for recurrence free survival (HR: 1.782, p=0.008). Perioperative anemia also affected the clinical course of postoperative surgical complications and postoperative adjuvant chemotherapy. Conclusion: Perioperative anemia was an independent prognostic factor for GC patients who received curative treatment. Thus, to improve GC patients’ survival, it is necessary to care for and manage perioperative anemia for GC patients before curative treatment.