Clinicopathological features of female gastric carcinoma patients with curative resection: comparison with male patients

Little is known about the clinicopathological features of female gastric carcinoma (FGC) patients. We compared the clinicopathologic features and outcomes of FGC patients with curative resection with those of male gastric carcinoma (MGC) patients. We reviewed the hospital records of 940 FGC patients between 1986 and 2005 at Chonnam National University Hospital. Multivariate analysis showed that presence of serosal invasion, lymph node metastasis, and operative type were significant prognostic factors for survival of FGC patients with curative resection. Furthermore, the overall 5-year survival rate of FGC patients with curative resection (53.4%) was higher than that of MGC patients (47.6%, p<0.05). In advanced cases, no significant difference was observed in the overall 5-year survival rate between the FGC and MGC patients (41.6% vs 37.4%, p>0.05). Therefore, serosal invasion, lymph node metastasis, and type of operation were statistically significant parameters associated with survival. Early detection is more important for improving the prognosis of female patients with gastric cancer than for male patients.