• Journal of Gastric Cancer
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• v.8 no.4
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• pp.210-216
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• 2008

Purpose: Siewert's classification of adenocarcinoma of the esophagogastric junction (AEG) has been widely adopted, but there is a wide discrepancy of the clinicopathological features of AEG of the Asian patients as compared to that of the Western patients. The aim of this study was to investigate the clinicopathological characteristics of AEG according to the Siewert classification. Materials and Methods: Among the patients who underwent surgery for gastric carcinoma in our institution between May 2004 and February 2008, the AEG patients were selected based on their operation records and the photographs according to Siewert's classification. Results: There were 70 AEG patients (3.9%) among the total of 1,778 patients. There were 3 patients (4.3%) with type I, 30 patients (42.8%) with type II and 37 patients (52.8%) with type III. Curative resection (R0) was achieved in 68 cases (97.1%). No significant differences in gender, stage, Barrett's esophagus and the proximal margin were found between the patients with type II and type III AEG. The patients with type III were younger than the patients with type II (59 vs 64 years, respectively, P=0.049). Well differentiated histology (P=0.045) and the intestinal type (P=0.055) were significantly more frequent in the patients with type II as compared with that in the patients with type III. Conclusion: There was a striking difference of the Asian patients from the Western patients for the incidence of AEG (and especially type I). Some of the differences between type II and type III patients were similar to those of the previous Western studies. A large study is needed to investigate whether these features are typical in the Korean population.

• Journal of Gastric Cancer
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• v.4 no.3
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• pp.143-148
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• 2004

Purpose: To determine the clinical value of the Siewert classification for gastic-cancer patients in Korea, we evaluated and compared the clinicopathologic factors of type II and type III cancer. Materials and Methods: The medical records of 89 consecutive patients who had undergone surgery for an adenocarcinoma of the gastroesophageal junction (GEJ) at the Department of Surgery, Hanyang University Hospital, between Jun. 1992 and Dec. 2003 were reviewed retrospectively. Results: There were one patient with type I, 12 pateints with type II and 77 patients with type III. During the same period, 1,341 patients underwent surgery for a gastric carcinoma, so proportion of GEJ cancer being $6.6\%$. The median followup duration was 31 months (range: $2\∼135$ months), and the follow-up rate was $100\%$. Between type II and type III cancers, there were no significant differences in the clinicopathologic variables including age, sex, gross appearance, histologic type, depth of invasion, and pathologic stage. The longest diameter of the tumor was larger in type III ($6.1\pm2.1$ cm) than in type II ($3.9\pm1.1$ cm)(P=0.001). A total gastrectomy with Roux-en-Y esophagojejunostomy was done most frequently, while jejunal interposition was done in 3 cases of type II and 2 cases of type III. More than a D2 lymphadenectomy was done all cases. The numbers of dissected lymph nodes and metastatic lymph nodes in type II were 43.8 and 5.8 respectively, while they were 49.8 and 8.1 in type III, but the difference between the two groups were not statistically significant. The mean length of the proximal resection margin was $15\pm5$ mm in type II and $21\pm13$ mm in type III, but this difference was not statistically significanct. The time to recurrence after operation was 19.3 months in type II and 16.9 months in type III. The five-year survival rates of type II and III were $68.8\%\;and\;52.7\%$ respectively, but difference was not significant. Conclusion: There were no significant differences in the clinicopathologic variables, including survival rate, between type II and type III cancers in Korean patients According to these findings, it appears to be reasonable to classify type III cancer as a cardia cancer in a broad sense.