A prospective randomized clinical trial comparing D2 dissection in laparoscopic and open gastrectomy for gastric cancer

Laparoscopic surgery is an acceptable alternative to open surgery in colorectal cancer treatment. However, in gastric cancer, there is not much scientific evidence. Here, we proposed a prospective randomized clinical trial to evaluate the radicalness and safety of laparoscopic D2 dissection for gastric cancer. From October 2010 to September 2012, 300 patients with gastric cancer were randomized to undergo either laparoscopy-assisted gastrectomy (LAG) or conventional open gastrectomy (OG) with D2 dissection. Clinicopathological parameters, recovery and complications were compared between these two groups. Thirty cases were excluded because of refusing to be involved in the trial, having peritoneal seeding metastasis or LAG conversed to OG, and finally 270 cases were analyzed (128 in LAG and 142 in OG). No significant differences were observed in gender, age, body mass index, stages and types of radical resection [radical proximal gastrectomy (PG + D2), radical distal gastrectomy (DG + D2) and radical total gastrectomy (TG + D2)] (P > 0.05). The number of harvested lymph nodes (HLNs) was similar (29.3 ± 11.8 in LAG vs. 30.1 ± 11.4 in OG, P = 0.574). And in the same type of radical resection, no significant difference was found in the number of HLNs between the two groups (PG + D2, P = 0.770; DG + D2, P = 0.500; TG + D2, P = 0.993). The morbidity of the LAG group (21.8 %) was also comparable to the OG group (19.0 %, P = 0.560). However, the LAG group had significantly less blood loss and faster recovery, and a longer operation time (P < 0.05). Laparoscopic D2 dissection is feasible, safe and capable of fulfilling oncologic criteria for the treatment of gastric cancer.