Letter to the Editor
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2024. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastrointest Surg. Nov 27, 2024; 16(11): 3618-3622
Published online Nov 27, 2024. doi: 10.4240/wjgs.v16.i11.3618
Preoperative malnutrition in elderly gastric cancer patients and adverse postoperative outcomes of radical gastrectomy
Shan-Shan Liu, Liang Wang
Shan-Shan Liu, Liang Wang, Department of Gastrointestinal Oncology Surgery, The Affiliated Hospital of Qinghai University, Xi’ning 810000, Qinghai Province, China
Co-first authors: Shan-Shan Liu and Liang Wang.
Author contributions: Liu SS and Wang L co-wrote the manuscript, sharing the first authorship; Wang L contributed to the editorial concept and design; Liu SS and Wang L reviewed the literature; Wang L revised and reviewed the manuscript; all authors have read and approved the final manuscript.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors report no relevant conflicts of interest for this article.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Liang Wang, MD, Attending Doctor, Department of Gastrointestinal Oncology Surgery, The Affiliated Hospital of Qinghai University, No. 29 Tongren Road, Xi’ning 810000, Qinghai Province, China. wangliang19911128@163.com
Received: July 16, 2024
Revised: September 19, 2024
Accepted: October 9, 2024
Published online: November 27, 2024
Processing time: 106 Days and 6.2 Hours
Abstract

Malnutrition is not only a prevalent condition among the elderly but also a common comorbidity in elderly people with gastric cancer (GC). Malnutrition is closely linked to high rates of postoperative complications and poor wound healing in elderly GC patients, which may lead to a higher incidence and mortality rate of GC. Malnutrition decreases the physical function of elderly GC patients after surgery, severely affecting their postoperative life quality and hindering subsequent treatments. This retrospective study was conducted by Zhao et al, focusing on the clinical baseline data, postoperative complications, and hospitalization times of elderly GC patients who underwent curative gastrectomy. Additionally, the underlying causes of poor outcomes for patients were discussed. This study may provide a solid basis for the clinical treatment of elderly GC patients in the future. Therefore, malnutrition can serve as a negative prognostic factor for curative surgery in GC patients. Addressing malnutrition and its adverse effects can benefit elderly GC patients from surgical treatment.

Keywords: Elderly gastric cancer patients; Prognostic nutritional index; Preoperative malnutrition; Radical gastrectomy; Adverse postoperative outcome

Core Tip: Preoperative malnutrition in elderly gastric cancer (GC) patients is linked to poor prognosis, prolonged hospital stay, and delayed discharge. Therefore, malnutrition can serve as a negative predictor of the therapeutic efficacy of radical surgery for GC patients. Improving malnutrition and its adverse effects may effectively benefit elderly GC patients undergoing radical surgery.