Lymphatic, Vessel, and Neural Invasions in Gastric Cancer and Its Significance in Prognosis

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE: This study was undertaken to investigate the prognostic significance of lymphatic invasion (LI), vessel invasion (VI), and neural invasion (NI) in gastric cancer and their correlations with other standard prognostic variables, such as the TNM stage. METHODS: The case histories of 100 gastric adenocarcinoma patients who had undergone a curative resection from 1992 to 1996 at Taegu Hyosung- Catholic University Hospital, Taegu, Korea were analyzed retrospectively. The Chi-Square test was used to determine the statistical significance of differences, and the Kaplan-Meier method was used to calculate survival rates. Significant differences in the survival rate were assessed using the log-rank test. The cox regression method was used for evaluation of independent prognostic significance. RESULTS: The 2-year survival rate was significantly lower (p<0.05) in LI (+) and NI (+) cases. The correlation between the T stage and LI, VI, and NI was statistically significant. Also, the correlation between the N stage and LI, VI, and NI was statistically significant. In the lymph node (+) group (n=43), the 2-year cumulative survival rate was higher in LI (-), VI (-), and NI (-) cases, but this result was not statistically significant. In the lymph node (-) group (n=57), the 2-year cumulative survival rate was higher in LI (-), VI (-), and NI (-) cases, but only the result for the NI (-) group was significant. Multivariate analysis demonstrated that LI, VI, and NI were not significant factors influencing the prognosis, although they were significant in the univariate analysis. CONCLUSION: This study identifies LI, VI, and NI as possible prognostic factor in gastric adenocarcinoma cases, but more careful research is needed.