A patient was found to have a mass arising from the antrum of the stomach which involves the head of the pancreas and metastasis to the right lobe of the liver. How will you manage this patient?

Correct Answer: A. Palliative gastrojejunostomy followed by chemotherapy

This is a stage IV gastric cancer (T4b with distant metastasis) arising from the antrum with pancreatic invasion and hepatic metastasis. The presence of distant metastasis (liver) makes this incurable by resection alone, and curative intent surgery is contraindicated. The goal shifts to palliation and symptom relief. Palliative gastrojejunostomy addresses the primary concern: potential gastric outlet obstruction from the antral mass, ensuring oral intake and quality of life. Chemotherapy (typically 5-FU/cisplatin or capecitabine/oxaliplatin regimens per Indian guidelines) provides systemic control and modest survival benefit (median ~9–11 months with chemotherapy vs. 3–5 months with supportive care alone). This dual approach—bypass surgery for mechanical relief + chemotherapy for systemic disease—is the standard palliative strategy in advanced gastric cancer per Bailey & Love and Indian surgical practice. Attempting curative resection in the presence of distant metastasis increases morbidity without survival benefit and is ethically unjustifiable.

Why the other options are wrong

B. Whipple's procedure — Whipple's (pancreaticoduodenectomy) is reserved for resectable pancreatic head cancers or ampullary tumors with curative intent. Here, the primary tumor is gastric (not pancreatic), and distant hepatic metastasis precludes curative resection. Performing Whipple's in stage IV disease causes unnecessary morbidity without improving survival—a classic NBE trap conflating pancreatic involvement with pancreatic origin. C. Radical gastrectomy — Radical gastrectomy (total/subtotal gastrectomy with D2 lymphadenectomy) is the curative intent procedure for resectable gastric cancer. However, distant metastasis (liver) is an absolute contraindication to curative resection per AJCC and Indian surgical guidelines. Performing radical gastrectomy in stage IV disease increases operative morbidity and hospital stay without survival benefit, violating the principle of harm minimization in palliative care. D. Gastrectomy with right hepatectomy — Combined gastrectomy and hepatectomy is only considered in highly selected cases with solitary resectable liver metastasis and no other distant disease—a rare scenario. Here, the presence of pancreatic invasion, hepatic metastasis, and advanced local disease makes R0 resection impossible. This aggressive approach increases operative mortality (>10%) without oncological benefit and is inappropriate for stage IV disease.

High-Yield Facts

Mnemonics

STAMP for Advanced Gastric Cancer Stage IV → Treat palliatively | Avoid curative Major surgery | Palliate with bypass + chemotherapy. Use when deciding between curative vs. palliative intent in locally advanced gastric cancer. M1 = Morbidity, not Mortality benefit When M1 (distant metastasis) is present, curative resection increases morbidity without mortality benefit. Palliative bypass + systemic therapy is the rule. Quick memory hook for stage IV decision-making.

NBE Trap

NBE pairs pancreatic invasion with Whipple's procedure to trap students who confuse pancreatic involvement (T4b) with pancreatic origin. The key discriminator is distant metastasis (M1), which shifts the entire strategy from curative to palliative, regardless of local extent.

Clinical Pearl

In Indian tertiary centers, palliative gastrojejunostomy is often performed laparoscopically or via open approach to minimize operative time in frail patients with stage IV gastric cancer. The bypass ensures patients can tolerate oral nutrition and subsequent chemotherapy cycles—critical for quality of life in the 9–12 month median survival window.

_Reference: Bailey & Love Ch. 61 (Stomach); Harrison Ch. 99 (Gastric Cancer); KD Tripathi Ch. 18 (Chemotherapy in GI malignancies)_