Abstract: Objective:To investigate the relationship between blood vessel invasion (BVI) and clinicopathologic features and prognosis in patients with gastric cancer, and analyze related factors affecting the prognosis of patients.
Methods:The clinicopathological data of 206 patients with gastric cancer who were admitted to the Nanjing Hospital Affiliated to Nanjing Medical University from January 2007 to December 2010 were retrospectively analyzed. The BVI of surgical tumor specimens in all patients was detected by immunohistochemical staininng. All the patients were followed up via outpatient examination and telephone interview up to March 2014. The count data were analyzed using the chisquare test. The survival curve was drawn by KaplanMeier method. The survival analysis and univariate analysis were done using the Logrank test, and multivariate analysis was done using the COX regression model.
Results:The BVI rate of 206 patients was 27.67%( 57/206). The BVI rate of tumor tissues, tumor differentiation, perineural invasion, T stage, N stage and TNM stage in all patients with gastric cancer were compared, showing significant differences (χ²=14.396, 9.569, 15.579, 43.453, 30.732, P<0.05). After operation, 188 patients were followed up for 6.0-60.0 months (median, 34.0 months), with the followup rate of 91.26%(188/206). Among 188 patients with followup, the median survival time and 5year cumulative survival rate in patients with BVI and with negative BVI were 32.4 months and 19.6%, 40.7 months and 42.0%, respectively, with a significant difference in the survival of patients (χ²=9.364，P<0.05). The results of univariate analysis showed that the diameter of tumor, tumor differentiation, perineural invasion, BVI, T stage, N stage and TNM stage were factors affecting the prognosis of patients with gastric cancer (χ²=9.241, 17.486, 11.243, 9.364,27.666, 216.745, 49.887, P<0.05). The results of multivariate analysis showed that the diameter of tumor more than 5 cm, BVI, stage T4 , stage N3 and stage Ⅲ were independent risk factors affecting the prognosis of patients with gastric cancer (HR=0.502, 0.456, 0.052, 0.001, 0.735; 95% confidence interval: 0.334-0.754, 0.289-0.720, 0.004-0.664, 0.000-0.006, 0.159-3.398, P<0.05).
Conclusions:BVI in patients with gastric cancer is associated with the progression of tumors. The diameter of tumor more than 5cm, BVI, stage T4 , stage N3 and stage Ⅲ are independent risk factors affecting the prognosis of patients with gastric cancer, and BVI may be a predictor of poor prognosis of patients with gastric cancer.