2.1. Patient

GC patients who received radical gastrectomy with D2 lymphadenectomy at the Department of Gastrointestinal Surgery of the Second Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University and Yuying children's Hospital between 01 June 2014 and 31 December 2016 were screened for inclusion in the study. The inclusion criteria were as followed: (a) postoperative pathology confirmed gastric adenocarcinoma; (b) aged ≥ eighteen years old; (c) Sign the participation informed consent. The following exclusion criteria were applied: (a) Underwent palliative surgery or emergency surgery; (b) received neoadjuvant chemotherapy or radiotherapy; (c) had a severe immune disease, blood disease, endocrine disease, or thyroid dysfunction; (d) had a history of other malignant tumors; (e) had a history of previous surgery; (f) there was a substantial absence of clinical data. Further details and a flow chart depicting the study procedure are shown in Figure 1.

Flow chart of study procedure