Occult metastases detected in 20.7% of gastric cancer patients

A retrospective analysis involving 232 patients undergoing staging laparoscopy (SL) revealed that 20.7% had occult metastases. Peritoneal carcinomatosis was the most common, affecting 17.2% of patients, followed by liver metastases. Key risk factors identified included positive cytology at staging (cm-positivity) and the presence of signet ring cells, both confirmed through multivariate analysis. The findings emphasize the need for SL in high-risk patients, especially those with cm-positive staging and specific histological features.