Palliative Management of Gastric Cancer with Outlet Obstruction: Stent versus Bypass

Kim, Hyung Ho

Abstract

Gastric cancer with gastric outlet obstruction has a high incidence of direct invasion into neighboring organs, with a low resection rate and a poor prognosis. Traditionally, open gastrojejunostomy has been the standard palliative treatment in these patients. Recently, endoscopic self-expanding metal stents have been used increasingly for the palliative treatment of malignant gastric outlet obstruction, but the choice of modality to treat the obstruction caused by gastric cancer is still controversial. Many studies have shown that endoscopic stenting is less invasive and offers not only a shorter time to oral intake and length of hospital stay, but also less frequent complications compared to open gastrojejunostomy. However, recurrent obstruction by tumor overgrowth and ingrowth occur more frequently and re-intervention for recurrent obstructive symptoms are more frequently performed after stent placement than after gastrojejunostomy. Thus, stent placement may be associated with more favorable results in patients with a relatively short life expectancy, while gastrojejunostomy is preferable in patients with a more prolonged prognosis. Also, open surgery affords a greater chance for curative surgery. However, most underlying diseases analyzed in previous studies were pancreaticobiliary malignancies, and there have been few prospective studies specific for patients with gastric cancer. Additional randomized controlled trials with larger sample sizes are expected to decide the treatment modality for unresectable gastric cancer with gastric outlet obstruction.