The Influence Of A Composite Hospital Volume Of Upper Gastrointestinal Cancer Resections On Outcomes Of Gastric Cancer Surgery

305 Background: There is a known volume-outcome association for complex surgial procedures such as oncologic gastric resections. The aim of this study was to describe the process of centralization for gastric cancer surgery in the Netherlands in relation to other types of upper gastrointestinal (GI) cancer resections and to investigate whether the quality of gastric cancer surgery is affected by the overall experience with those related complex surgical procedures. Methods: Data on all patients (n = 4251) who underwent surgical treatment for non metastatic invasive gastric cancer between 2005-2013 were obtained from the Netherlands Cancer Registry. Annual hospital volume categories were based on the overall volume of gastrectomies, esophagectomies and pancreatectomies together (composite hospital volume). Volume-outcome analyses were performed for lymph node yield, 30-day mortality, and overall survival. Results: The percentage of gastric cancer patients who underwent a resection in a hospital with a volu...