Abstract
We performed a retrospective analysis of 21 patients with primary gastric squamous cell carcinoma (PGSCC) who were admitted to our hospital from October 2008 to October 2014. The median age was 67 years and male predominance was observed, the most common tumor locations were the upper third of the stomach, most of the clinical manifestations were identical to those of other types of gastric tumors, and the tumor cells had positive immunoreactivity for p63 and CK5/6. In terms of treatments, surgery (R0 resection) is the main treatment; the effect of other treatments is unclear. The median survival time for the surgery group and nonsurgery group was 46 and 4.5 months, respectively. Probably due to limited number of cases, no significant difference in median survival time was observed between the surgery alone group and the surgery plus adjuvant therapy group (46 versus 51 months, P = 0.310). A standard chemotherapy regimen for this disease has not yet been established; the choice of its chemotherapy regimens tends to follow the principle of the treatment of gastric adenocarcinoma or esophageal cancer. PGSCC generally had a poor prognosis, and early detection, early diagnosis, and early surgical treatment are beneficial to patients.
Highlights
Gastric cancer is one of the most common malignancies and a frequent cause of cancer-related death in the world, especially in China
Our understanding of primary gastric squamous cell carcinoma (PGSCC) remains poor; in order to contribute to a deeper knowledge of this tumor, we performed a retrospective analysis of the clinicopathological characteristics, treatment, and prognosis of 21 patients with PGSCC who were admitted to our hospital from October 2008 to October 2014
Five main theories regarding the origin of SCC in the stomach were proposed by Straus et al [2, 6]: (1) squamous differentiation in a preexisting adenocarcinoma; (2) squamous metaplasia of the gastric mucosa before malignant transformation; (3) multipotential stem cells in the gastric mucosa which can develop into any type of cell; (4) nests of ectopic squamous cells in gastric mucosa; and (5) SCC arising from the vascular endothelium of the stomach
Summary
Gastric cancer is one of the most common malignancies and a frequent cause of cancer-related death in the world, especially in China. Adenocarcinoma is the most prevalent type and accounts for more than 90% of gastric cancers, but primary gastric squamous cell carcinoma (PGSCC) is extremely rare, accounting for about 0.04% to 0.07% of the total gastric carcinomas worldwide [1, 2]. PGSCC is often diagnosed at a late stage and its prognosis is generally poor. Our understanding of PGSCC remains poor; in order to contribute to a deeper knowledge of this tumor, we performed a retrospective analysis of the clinicopathological characteristics, treatment, and prognosis of 21 patients with PGSCC who were admitted to our hospital from October 2008 to October 2014. Our study included the largest series of patients with PGSCC analyzed to date
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