Clinicopathological Features and Postoperative Survival Analysis of Gastric Carcinoma with Neuroendocrine Differentiation

OBJECTIVES: This study aims at investigating the differences of clinicopathological features and postoperative prognosis in three different types of neuroendocrine differentiation-related gastric cancers. METHODS: From January 1, 2015 to September 30, 2016, 47 patients diagnosed with neuroendocrine differentiation-related gastric cancers were collected from 1095 patients with gastric cancer who underwent surgical treatment in the Department of Gastrointestinal Surgery, Jiangsu Cancer Hospital. Patients were followed up regularly, and the last follow-up time was October 25, 2021. A total of 38 cases met the inclusion criteria and completed follow-up. The clinicopathological characters and immunohistochemical results of these three special pathological types of gastric cancer (adenocarcinoma with neuroendocrine differentiation, mixed adenoneuroendocrine carcinoma, and neuroendocrine carcinoma of the stomach) patients were compared. Tissues from these patients were tested with immunohistochemical markers synaptophysin (Syn), chromogranin A (CgA), and Ki-67. The Kaplan–Meier method and log-rank test were used to analyze the effect of different histological types of gastric cancer on overall survival (OS). The differences in positive rates of chromogranin A (CgA) and Ki-67 were analyzed by univariate Cox regression analysis as independent risk factors that may affect the survival of gastric cancer patients. RESULTS: Ki-67 and N staging were significantly correlated with OS in gastric cancer patients and were independent prognostic factors affecting the survival of gastric cancer patients. There was no statistical difference in OS between the two histopathological types (adenocarcinoma with neuroendocrine differentiation and mixed adenoneuroendocrine carcinoma) of gastric cancer patients. There were no significant differences in the positive rates of immunohistochemical markers Syn, CgA, and Ki-67 in gastric cancer patients with different histological types. CONCLUSION: The combined detection of Syn and CgA is of great value for the diagnosis of neuroendocrine differentiation-related gastric cancers, Ki-67 is of significance for the prognosis prediction of neuroendocrine differentiation-related gastric cancers, regional lymph node metastasis has a great impact on tumor prognosis, and the N staging determines the necessity of postoperative adjuvant chemotherapy for patients with neuroendocrine differentiation-related gastric cancer.