ABSTRACT
<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the association of neuroendocrine differentiation with progression and prognosis of gastric adenocarcinoma.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Clinicopathological data of 240 patients with gastric adenocarcinomas were retrospectively analyzed. The expression of chromogranin A, synaptophysin and secrectagogin in cancer tissue was assessed by immunohistochemistry. The association of neuoroendocrine differentiation parameters with disease progression and survival of patients was analyzed.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The expression of synaptophysin was positively correlated with depth of invasion and secretagogin more often expressed in cases with lymph node metastasis. In Lauren diffuse type of cancer, expression of chromogranin A and secretagogin was unfavorable prognostic predictor. In TNM stage II adenocarcinoma, expression of chromogranin A and synaptophysin related to poor survival, and multivariate Cox proportional hazard model showed that synaptophysin was an independent predictor for poor survival.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Neuroendocrine differentiation predicts deeper depth of invasion, more possibility of lymph node metastasis and poor survival in gastric adenocarcinoma.</p>