Discordant findings between preoperative endoscopy and postoperative pathology as an independent prognostic factor in gastric cancer patients

Abstract

Background Endoscopically diagnosed early gastric cancers (EGCs) are sometimes revealed to be advanced gastric cancers (AGCs) on pathologic examination of the resected specimen, and also endoscopically diagnosed AGCs are often determined to be EGCs. This study was designed to determine the impact on prognosis of the discordant finding between preoperative endoscopy and postoperative pathology in gastric cancer patients.

Methods Patients with gastric cancer stages pT1a–T4a who underwent curative gastrectomy between 2004 and 2010 were included in the study. The preoperative endoscopic findings and clinicopathologic features were analyzed. The prognostic impact on recurrence-free survival of discordance between endoscopic and pathologic examinations was analyzed using multivariate analysis.

Results Among 367 patients diagnosed with EGC on preoperative endoscopy, 40 (11 %) had AGC on final pathologic examination; this was more common in female patients, upper one-third location of the cancer, poorly differentiated tumor, combined gross type (elevated and depressed), lymphovascular invasion and lymph node metastasis. Among 350 patients diagnosed with AGC on preoperative endoscopy, 66 (19 %) had EGC pathologically; this was more frequent in patients with tumor in the lower and/or middle third of the stomach, differentiated tumor, Borrmann type 1 and absence of lymph node metastasis. The endoscopic appearance of AGC was identified as a poor prognostic factor related to recurrence-free survival in patients with EGC, whereas discordance did not influence recurrence-free survival in patients with AGC.

Conclusions Discordant preoperative endoscopic appearance may be an indicator of biologic aggressiveness and a reliable prognostic factor in EGC, but not in AGC.