Clinicopathologic Characteristics and Risk Factors of Lymph Node Metastasis in Patients with Early Gastric Cancer in the Wannan Region

Development and validation of a nomogram for predicting lymph node metastasis in early gastric cancer

BACKGROUND

Lymph node metastasis (LNM) significantly impacts the treatment and prognosis of early gastric cancer (EGC). Consequently, the precise prediction of LNM risk in EGC patients is essential to guide the selection of appropriate surgical approaches in clinical settings.

AIM

To develop a novel nomogram risk model for predicting LNM in EGC patients, utilizing preoperative clinicopathological data.

METHODS

Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were performed to examine the correlation between clinicopathological factors and LNM in EGC patients. Additionally, univariate Kaplan-Meier and multivariate Cox regression analyses were used to assess the influence of clinical factors on EGC prognosis. A predictive model in the form of a nomogram was developed, and its discrimination ability and calibration were also assessed.

RESULTS

The incidence of LNM in the study cohort was 19.6%. Multivariate logistic regression identified tumor size, location, degree of differentiation, and pathological type as independent risk factors for LNM in EGC patients. Both tumor pathological type and LNM independently affected the prognosis of EGC. The model's performance was reflected by an area under the curve of 0.750 [95% confidence interval (CI): 0.701-0.789] for the training group and 0.763 (95%CI: 0.687-0.838) for the validation group.

CONCLUSION

A clinical prediction model was constructed (using tumor size, low differentiation, location in the middle-lower region, and signet ring cell carcinoma), with its score being a significant prognosis indicator.

A nomogram for predicting lymph node metastasis in early gastric signet ring cell carcinoma

At present, the risk factors for lymph node metastasis in early gastric signet ring cell carcinoma (SRCC) remain unclear. However, it is worth noting that the LNM rate and prognosis of early gastric SRCC are superior to those of other undifferentiated cancers. With advancements in endoscopic technology, the 5-year survival rate following endoscopic treatment of early gastric cancer is comparable to traditional surgery while offering a better quality of life. The objective of this study was to develop a nomogram that can predict lymph node status in early gastric SRCC before surgery, aiding clinicians in selecting the optimal treatment strategy. A research cohort was established by retrospectively collecting data from 183 patients with early gastric SRCC who underwent radical gastrectomy with lymph node dissection at our hospital between January 2014 and June 2022. The predictors of early gastric signet ring cell carcinoma lymph node metastasis were identified in the study cohort using the least absolute selection and shrinkage operator (Lasso) and multivariate regression analysis, and a nomogram was developed. The discrimination, accuracy, and clinical practicability of the nomogram were assessed using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis, calibration curve analysis, and decision curve analysis. The incidence of lymph node metastasis was 21.9% (40/183) overall. Multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed that tumor size and lymphovascular invasion (LVI) were independent risk factors for lymph node metastasis. Lasso regression analysis demonstrated that tumor size, invasion depth, LVI, E-cadherin expression, dMMR, CA242, NLR, and macroscopic type were associated with lymph node metastasis. The integrated discrimination improvement (IDI) (P = 0.034) and net reclassification index (NRI) (P = 0.023) were significantly improved when dMMR was added to model 1. In addition, the area under curve (AUC) (P = 0.010), IDI (P = 0.001) and NRI (P < 0.001) of the model were significantly improved when type_1 was included. Therefore, we finally included tumor size, invasion depth, dMMR, and macroscopic type to establish a nomogram, which had good discrimination (AUC = 0.757, 95% CI 0.687-0.828) and calibration. Decision curve analysis showed that the nomogram had good clinical performance. We have developed a risk prediction model for early gastric signet ring cell carcinoma that accurately predicts lymph node involvement, providing clinicians with a valuable tool to aid in patient counseling and treatment decision-making.

Predictive value of prognostic nutritional index on infection after radical gastrectomy: a retrospective study

BACKGROUND

The prognostic nutritional index (PNI) is a useful tool to evaluate nutritional status, which is associated with postoperative complications and prognosis of patients with cancer. Recent studies have shown that PNI has important predictive value for postoperative infection in cancer patients. However, the role and clinical value of PNI in infection after radical gastrectomy remains unclear. This study investigated the relationship between PNI and infection after radical surgery for gastric cancer (GC), focusing on the predictive value of PNI.

METHODS

A total of 1,111 patients with primary gastric cancer who underwent radical surgery in our hospital from December 2010 to December 2020 were included in this retrospective study. The demographic and clinicopathological data of all patients were acquired through hospital information system (HIS). Preoperative serum albumin (ALB) level and peripheral blood lymphocyte count were obtained for PNI calculation. We selected 812 patients by propensity score matching to reduce biases due to the different distributions of co-variables among the comparable groups. The factors influencing postoperative infection in the matched patients were explored using univariate and multivariate analyses.

RESULTS

Baseline characteristics significantly differed among patients with different PNI scores. After one-to-one matching, the clinicopathological data of the 2 groups were comparable, and 812 patients were included for further analysis. Among these patients, 101 developed infections, with an infection rate of 12.4%, which were mainly caused by gram-negative bacteria. The incidence of infection was significantly higher in the low PNI group than in the high PNI group. Univariate and multivariate analyses identified body mass index (BMI) ≥25 kg/m2 [odds ratio (OR) =2.314, P=0.004], diabetes mellitus (OR =1.827, P=0.042), PNI score <45 (OR =2.138, P=0.037), combined multi-organ resection (OR =2.946, P<0.001), operation time ≥240 minutes (OR =2.744, P=0.023), and perioperative blood transfusion (OR =2.595, P=0.025) as risk factors for infection after radical surgery for GC.

CONCLUSIONS

Infection is the most common complication after radical gastrectomy for GC, and a low preoperative PNI score is a risk factor for postoperative infection.

The Clinicopathological Characteristics and Prognoses of dMMR Gastric Adenocarcinoma Patients

Background

Few studies on the clinicopathological features and prognosis of DNA mismatch repair deficiency (dMMR) gastric cancer (GC) have been reported, and no clear conclusions have been drawn about the factors affecting the prognosis of dMMR GC. The aim of this study was to explore the clinicopathological characteristics and prognoses of dMMR GC patients.

Methods

From May 2011 to November 2020, GC patients who underwent surgery with dMMR confirmed by immunohistochemistry (IHC) at the Affiliated Cancer Hospital of Shanxi Medical University were selected. The patients' clinical and pathological data were collected. The recurrence-free survival (RFS) and overall survival (OS) rates of the patients were determined through follow-up. SPSS 26.0 was used to analyze the patients' clinicopathological features and prognoses.

Results

A total of 162 dMMR GC patients met the inclusion criteria, and the median age was 63.5 years (32–89 years). dMMR GC was more common in males (65% vs. 35%), and most of the cases were stage II (the prevalence of stage I was 22%, that of stage II was 43%, that of stage III was 30%, and that of stage IV was 5%). Most of the lesions were located in the antrum (49%), followed by the cardia (25%). PMS2 and MLH1 (57%) deficiency was most common. Kaplan–Meier analysis showed that factors related to OS were family history (P = 0.048), number of lymph node (LN) metastases (P < 0.001), vascular tumor thrombus (P < 0.001), HER2 expression status (P = 0.025), and clinical stage (P < 0.001). The factors related to RFS included vascular tumor thrombus (P < 0.001), number of LN metastases (P < 0.001), and clinical stage (P < 0.001).

Conclusion

In this study, dMMR GC was more common in men, and the median age was 63.5 years. Most of the lesions were in the antrum and showed the combined deletion of MLH1 and PMS2. dMMR GC patients tended to be early stage, and the prognosis of those with early-stage GC was better. dMMR GC patients with vascular tumor thrombus or >6 LN metastases had a high recurrence rate and poor survival outcome.

Diabetes mellitus promoted lymph node metastasis in gastric cancer: a 15-year single-institution experience

Background:

Previous studies have revealed that diabetes mellitus (DM) promotes disease progress of gastric cancer (GC). This study aimed to further investigating whether DM advanced lymph nodes (LNs) metastasis in GC.

Methods:

The clinicopathologic data of GC patients with >15 examined LN (ELN) between October 2004 and December 2019 from a prospectively maintained database were included. The observational outcomes included the number (N3b status) and anatomical distribution (N3 stations) of metastatic LN (MLN).

Results:

A total of 2142 eligible patients were included in the study between October 2004 and December 2019. N3 stations metastasis (26.8% in DM vs. 19.3% in non-DM, P = 0.026) and N3b status (18.8% in DM vs. 12.8% in non-DM, P = 0.039) were more advanced in the DM group, and multivariate logistic regression analyses confirmed that DM was an independent factor of developing N3 stations metastasis (odds ratio [OR] = 1.771, P = 0.011) and N3b status (OR = 1.752, P = 0.028). Also, multivariate analyses determined DM was independently associated with more MLN (β = 1.424, P = 0.047). The preponderance of N3 stations metastasis (DM vs. non-DM, T1–2: 2.2% vs. 4.9%, T3: 29.0% vs. 20.3%, T4a: 38.9% vs. 25.8%, T4b: 50.0% vs. 36.6%; ELN16–29: 8.6% vs. 10.4%, ELN30–44: 27.9% vs. 20.5%, ELN ≥ 45: 37.7% vs. 25.3%), N3b status (DM vs. non-DM, T1–2: 0% vs. 1.7%, T3: 16.1% vs. 5.1%, T4a: 27.8% vs. 19.1%, T4b: 44.0% vs. 28.0%; ELN16–29: 8.6% vs. 7.9%, ELN30–44: 18.0% vs. 11.8%, ELN ≥ 45: 26.4% vs. 17.3%), and the number of MLN (DM vs. non-DM, T1–2: 0.4 vs. 1.1, T3: 8.6 vs. 5.2, T4a: 9.7 vs. 8.6, T4b: 17.0 vs. 12.8; ELN16–29: 3.6 vs. 4.6, ELN30–44: 5.8 vs. 5.5, ELN ≥ 45: 12.0 vs. 7.7) of DM group increased with the advancement of primary tumor depth stage and raising of ELN.

Conclusions:

DM was an independent risk factor for promoting LN metastasis. The preponderance of LN involvement in the DM group was aggravated with the advancement of tumor depth.