Distal Gastric Carcinoma Research Articles

Subtotal versus total gastrectomy for distal diffuse-type gastric cancer.

Diffuse-type gastric carcinoma in an aggressive form of gastric cancer. Surgery is the only potentially curative treatment. It is controversial whether patients with diffuse-type gastric carcinoma should undergo total or subtotal gastrectomy when feasible. The aim of this study is to analyze the oncologic outcomes and overall survival of patients diagnosed with distal diffuse-type gastric cancer undergoing subtotal versus total gastrectomy with curative intent. This retrospective study included all patients with histologically confirmed diffuse-type distal gastric carcinoma and clinical staging cT1-4M0, who underwent surgery with curative intent between 2011 and 2020 in a Tertiary Referral Hospital in Chile. Clinical and pathological staging was conducted using the 8th Edition of the American Joint Committee on Cancer Classification. STG group was comprised by patients who underwent subtotal gastrectomy and TG group by patients who underwent total gastrectomy. Both groups were compared in relation to sociodemographic variables, pathology reports and perioperative data which were obtained from electronic medical records. Data analysis was obtained with Stata 16.1 Statistical Software. One hundred and thirty patients underwent curative intent surgery. Subtotal gastrectomy with D2-lymphadenectomy was completed in 68 patients (52%). An R0 resection was achieved in all patients. Median number of resected lymph nodes, tumor size, proximal margin and depth of invasion were similar in both groups. Pathologicstaging was similar between both groups, the most frequent being Stage 3(54%). After a median follow-up of 47 months [0.3-157], no difference was observed in overall survival between both groups (5-year-OS 63% in STG group versus 51% in TG group, p = 0.097). Oncologic and survival outcomes were similar in patients submitted to subtotal and total gastrectomy,suggesting that a subtotal gastrectomy with D2-lymphadenectomy for distal diffuse-type gastric carcinoma is not associated with a decrease in median overall survival and is an adequate surgical approach when technically feasible.

Plasma metabolomics combined with mass spectrometry imaging reveals crosstalk between tumor and plasma in gastric cancer genesis and metastasis

Gastric Carcinoma (GC) is a highly fatal malignant tumor with a poor prognosis. Its elevated mortality rates are primarily due to its proclivity for late-stage metastasis. Exploring the metabolic interactions between tumor microenvironment and the systemic bloodstream could help to clearly understand the mechanisms and identify precise biomarkers of tumor growth, proliferation, and metastasis. In this study, an integrative approach that combines plasma metabolomics with mass spectrometry imaging of tumor tissue was developed to investigate the global metabolic landscape of GC tumorigenesis and metastasis. The results showed that the oxidized glutathione to glutathione ratio (GSSH/GSH) became increased in non-distal metastatic GC (M0), which means an accumulation of oxidative stress in tumor tissues. Furthermore, it was found that the peroxidation of polyunsaturated fatty acids, such as 9,10-EpOMe, 9-HOTrE, etc., were accelerated in both plasma and tumor tissues of distal metastatic GC (M1). These changes were further confirmed the potential effect of CYP2E1 and GGT1 in metastatic potential of GC by mass spectrometry imaging (MSI) and immunohistochemistry (IHC). Collectively, our findings reveal the integrated multidimensional metabolomics approach is a clinical useful method to unravel the blood-tumor metabolic crosstalk, illuminate reprogrammed metabolic networks, and provide reliable circulating biomarkers.

Technique and Study Results of Laparoscopic Gastrectomy for Gastric Cancer

The aim of this paper was to describe the technique of laparoscopic gastrectomy for gastric carcinoma and to present a review of current international studies on this topic.The first part describes and documents a standard laparoscopic gastrectomy for carcinoma. In the second part, after an EMBASE and PubMed search, a total of 123 quality-relevant randomised (RCT) and non-randomised (non-RCT) studies on laparoscopic gastrectomy are identified from a primary total of 3,042 hits by systematic narrowing. The study results are then summarised conclusively for the target criteria of feasibility, outcome, oncological quality, morbidity and mortality.Both, laparoscopic subtotal resection for distal gastric carcinomas and laparoscopic gastrectomy can now be performed safely and with few complications. In a recent literature review of a total of 15 RCTs with 5,576 patients (laparoscopic 2,793 vs. open 2,756), there were no significant differences in terms of feasibility, intraoperative outcome and oncological quality (R0 and lymph node harvest). Surgical morbidity and mortality were comparable. Patients after laparoscopic surgery showed a significantly faster early postoperative recovery with a lower overall morbidity. In contrast, the operating time was significantly longer - by a mean of 45min - compared to the open technique. The advantages of the laparoscopic technique were equally evident in studies on early gastric carcinoma and advanced carcinomas (>T2).Laparoscopic gastrectomy for gastric carcinoma is safe to perform and shows better early postoperative recovery. Complication rates, morbidity and mortality as well as long-term oncological results are comparable with open surgery.

Pathogenicity of Helicobacter pylori in cancer development and impacts of vaccination.

Helicobacter pylori affect around 50% of the population worldwide. More importantly, the gastric infection induced by this bacterium is deemed to be associated with the progression of distal gastric carcinoma and gastric mucosal lymphoma in thehuman. H. pylori infection and its prevalent genotype significantly differ across various geographical regions. Based on numerous virulence factors, H. pylori can target different cellular proteins to modulate the variety of inflammatory responses and initiate numerous "hits" on the gastric mucosa. Such reactions lead to serious complications, including gastritis and peptic ulceration, gastric cancer and gastric mucosa-associated lymphoid structure lymphoma. Therefore, H. pylori have been considered as the type I carcinogen by the Global Firm for Research on Cancer. During the two past decades, different reports revealed that H. pylori possess oncogenic potentials in the gastric mucosa through a complicated interplay between the bacterial factors, various facets, and the environmental factors. Accordingly, numerous signaling pathways could be triggered in the development of gastrointestinaldiseases(e.g., gastric cancer). Therefore, the main strategy for the treatment of gastric cancer is controlling the disease far before its onset using preventive/curative vaccination. Increasing the efficiency of vaccines may be achieved by new trials of vaccine modalities, which is used to optimize the cellular immunity. Taken all, H. pylori infection mayimpose severe complications, for resolving of which extensive researches are essential in terms of immune responses to H. pylori. We envision that H. pylori-mediated diseases can be controlled by advanced vaccines and immunotherapies.

Multimodal treatment in locally advanced gastric cancer.

According to the data of the GLOBOCAN-network of the World Health Organization, there were 952,000 (6.8% of the total) new cases of gastric cancer in 2012, making it the fifth most common malignancy in the world. It represents a substantive change since the very first estimates in 1975 when stomach cancer was the most common neoplasm. More than 70% of cases (677,000 cases) occur in developing countries, and half the world total occurs in Eastern Asia, mainly in China. Gastric cancer is the third leading cause of cancer death in both sexes worldwide (Globocan, Estimated cancer incidence, mortality and prevalence worldwide in 2012, http://globocan.iarc.fr , 2012). Annually, worldwide 723,000 patients die of this tumor entity. Interestingly, a strong change in incidence rates in relation to the anatomical-topographic localization of the primary tumors in the stomach and esophagus has been experienced. While the frequency of proximal gastric carcinoma and adenocarcinoma of the cardiac and subcardiac region in Europe and North America has been constantly rising, distal gastric carcinomas have become less common (Torre et al. in JAMA 65:87-108, 2015). Furthermore, the relative incidence of esophageal adenocarcinoma (mostly localized in the distal esophagus) has strongly increased (Jemal et al. in JAMA 58:71-96, 2008; Crew and Neugut 31:450-464, 2004; Pohl and Welch 97:142-146, 2005).

Clinical characteristics of distal gastric cancer in young adults from Northeastern Brazil

BackgroundIt has been suggested that distal gastric carcinoma (GC) in younger patients has a more aggressive outcome than in older patients, however this is a controversial issue. The aim of this study was to compare clinicopathological features between younger and older patients with GC in Northeastern Brazil.MethodsA total of 207 patients with distal GC (41 patients ≤45 years, considered younger group, and 166 > 45 years, considered older group) were evaluated prospectively during a 6 year period.ResultsThe mean patient age in the young group was 37.41 years old and 64.43 years in the older group. No significant difference was found regarding gender, area of residence, history of alcohol consumption, chronic tobacco smoking. Prevalence of first-degree GC history was 12.5% (7.3% in younger group vs. 13.9% in older; p < 0.46). The most frequent symptom was gastric pain and weight loss. Diffuse infiltrative cancer was more frequently seen in younger patients (70.70% vs. 33.70%, respectively; p < 0.01), as was histologically less differentiated tumors (63.40% vs. 33.10%; p < 0.01) and stage IV of GC (48.80% vs. 30.70%; p < 0.015). Five-year survival, evaluated in 82 patients, was lower in younger patients (p = 0.045); however, after adjusting for stage of GC in the multivariate analysis, this association did not remain significant. Family history of GC and gender had no impact on survival.ConclusionsYounger patients showed higher prevalence of diffuse type of Lauren and lower survival that was attributed to higher rate of advanced stage of GC. Gastric cancer screening strategies should also be considered in younger individuals, especially in areas of high prevalence. Further studies are warranted to determine risk factors associated with gastric cancer in young adults.

An observational study of patients with HER2-positive metastatic gastric cancer treated with trastuzumab: Single center experience.

e15500 Background: In this study, during a 54-month follow-up period, we presented clinicopathological features and survival results of patients treated with trastuzumab. Methods: We retrospectively analyzed the efficacy of trastuzumab-based chemotherapy in 21 patients with HER2-positive gastric cancer between January 2012 and July 2016. Results: Eighteen (86%) patients were male with a median age of 61 (34-80) years. One of the patients was stage 2, 2 were stage 3 and 18 were stage 4, at the time of diagnosis. From 21 tumours, 11 (52%) were located in the cardia, 5 (23%) in the antrum and 5 (23%) in the corpus. In the histopathological examination, 18 (86%) cases were adenocarcinoma and 3 (14%) were signet-ring cell. Seven of the patients with metastatic disease were operated (total/subtotal gastrectomi). The most common metastatic sites were liver (%86), lung(%33), distant lymph node(%23), and periton(%14). Trastuzumab was administered in combination with chemotherapy as first-line treatment and beyond progression as a secondline, and third-line treatment in 18, 2, and 1 patients, respectively. When tumour response was assessed after three cycles of chemotherapy, one complete response (5%),4 partial response (19%),12 stabil disease (57%) were observed, and 4 (19%) patients had progressive disease. Clinical benefit rate was 81%. The maintenance treatment of trastuzumab was applied to 10 patients (47%). At a median follow-up of 17.8 (5-38) months, median progression-free survival was 12.8 months (3-31) and overall survival 18.6 months (3-91). Conclusions: Proximal gastric carcinomas with intestinal phenotype are found to have a higher expression of HER2-gene (range 8-34%) than distal diffuse gastric carcinomas (range 1-7%). The present results are similar to those of the ToGA study in terms of overall survival and response rate.

Risk factors of lymph node metastasis in early gastric carcinomas diagnosed by WHO criteria in 379 Chinese patients.

To investigate risk factors of lymph node metastasis (LNM) in Chinese early gastric carcinoma (EGC) patients diagnosed using the World Health Organization (WHO) criteria and compare the differences in those factors between proximal (PGC) and distal gastric carcinoma (DGC). Among 3 176 gastric cancer resections we identified 379 (11.9%) consecutive EGC (104 PGC and 275 DGC) with lymphadenectomy performed at the Affiliated Nanjing Drum Tower Hospital of Nanjing University (Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, China) between January 2005 and December 2012. Endoscopic and clinicopathological features related to LNM were analyzed. LNM occurred in 49 (12.9%) EGC, including three PGC and 46 DGC. In early DGC, middle age (41-60 years), tumor size ≥3.1 cm, submucosal invasion, poorly cohesive carcinoma, micropapillary adenocarcinoma and lymphovascular invasion were risk factors by univariate analysis. In contrast, no risk factors of LNM were identified in early PGC. By multivariate analysis, female sex (odds ratio [OR] 2.4), DGC (OR 8.1), poorly cohesive carcinoma (OR 8.8) and lymphovascular invasion (OR 38.8) were found to be significant independent risk factors for LNM. The risk of LNM was effectively stratified using a scoring model of mild (score ≤3.5), moderate (score 4.0-8.5) and high (score ≥16) risk groups. LNM occurred in 12.9% of EGC diagnosed with the WHO criteria in Chinese patients. Independent risk factors of LNM were identified in early DGC only and included female sex, DGC, poorly cohesive carcinoma and lymphovascular invasion. Early PGC has a much lower risk for LNM than early DGC.

Association between HER2 status in gastric cancer and clinicopathological features: a retrospective study using whole-tissue sections.

BackgroundGastric cancer is usually diagnosed in an advanced stage of disease and treatment options are sparse. Trastuzumab was recently approved for metastatic or locally advanced carcinomas arising in the stomach or in the gastroesophageal junction in patients with HER2-positive tumors. However, data on the frequency of HER2-positive cases among Brazilian patients are limited. Our aim was to characterize HER2 protein and gene status in a series of Brazilian patients with gastric cancer and to evaluate its association with clinicopathological data.MethodsHistological slides from 124 primary gastrectomies were reviewed and their pathological reports were retrieved from the files at a Brazilian university hospital. Automated immunohistochemistry for HER2 was performed on whole-tissue sections from each tumor. HER2-equivocal cases by immunohistochemistry were submitted to automated dual in situ hybridization for gene amplification evaluation. HER2 status was confronted with clinicopathological parameters in order to assess statistically significant associations.ResultsImmunohistochemistry analysis revealed that 13/124 cases (10.5 %) were HER2 positive (3+), 10/124 cases (8.1 %) were equivocal (2+) and 101/124 cases (81.4 %) were negative, being 7 cases 1+. None of the equivocal cases showed gene amplification. The overall HER2 positivity rate was 10.5 %. There was an association between HER2 expression and Laurén’s intestinal histological subtype (P = 0.048), well to moderately differentiated tumors (P = 0.004) and presence of lymphovascular invasion (P = 0.031). No association was found between HER2 status and tumor topography.ConclusionsConfronted with data published by other authors, the lower percentage of HER2-positive cases found in our series might be partially explained by the lower frequency of tumors arising at the gastroesophageal junction in comparison with distal gastric carcinomas in Brazilian patients. This could also account for the lack of statistically significant association between HER2 status and tumor topography in our study.

Clinicopathological characterisation of small (2 cm or less) proximal and distal gastric carcinomas in a Chinese population

SummaryClinicopathological characteristics of small gastric carcinoma have not been well defined in Chinese patients. The aim of this study was to investigate and compare small proximal (PGC, n = 111) with distal (DGC, n = 202) gastric carcinoma in 313 consecutive surgically resected small (≤2 cm) gastric carcinomas diagnosed with the WHO criteria. PGC patients were significantly older (average age 63 years versus 59 in DGCs) with a male/female ratio of 3:1. Most tumours were clustered along the lesser curvature (74% in PGCs and 65% in DGCs). Compared to DGCs, PGCs showed a protruded gross pattern significantly more frequently and were significantly better differentiated with a significantly wider histomorphological spectrum. Surprisingly, PGCs were composed of significantly fewer signet-ring cell carcinomas (1% versus 16% in DGCs) but were significantly more deeply invasive, compared to DGCs. Lymph node metastasis was detected in 23% overall, but was significantly less frequent in PGCs (16%) than in DGCs (26%) (p < 0.05). However, the difference in survival between the two groups was not statistically significant. Our results demonstrate that in Chinese patients, PGCs display distinct clinicopathological characteristics, compared to DGCs.

Differences in Clinicopathology of Early Gastric Carcinoma between Proximal and Distal Location in 438 Chinese Patients.

Early gastric carcinoma (EGC) in Chinese patients remains poorly understood and endoscopic therapy has not been well established. Here, we compared endoscopic and clinicopathologic features between early proximal gastric carcinoma (PGC, n = 131) and distal gastric carcinoma (DGC, n = 307) in consecutive 438 EGCs diagnosed with the WHO criteria. By endoscopy, PGCs showed protruding and elevated patterns in 61.9%, while depressed and excavated patterns in 33.6%, which were significantly different from those (32.6% and 64.5%) in DGCs. PGCs were significantly smaller (1.9 cm in average, versus 2.2 cm in DGCs), invaded deeper (22.9% into SM2, versus 13% in DGCs), but had fewer (2.9%, versus 16.7% in DGCs) lymph node metastases. Papillary adenocarcinoma was significantly more frequent (32.1%, versus 12.1% in DGCs), as were mucinous and neuroendocrine carcinomas, carcinoma with lymphoid stroma (6.9%, versus 1.6% in DGCs); but poorly cohesive carcinoma was significantly less frequent (5.3%, versus 35.8% in DGCs). The overall 5-year survival rate was 92.9% in EGCs, and PGC patients showed shorter (42.4 months, versus 48.3 in DGCs) survival. Papillary and micropapillary adenocarcinomas and nodal metastasis were independent risk factors for worse survival in EGCs. EGCs in Chinese were heterogeneous with significant differences in endoscopy and clinicopathology between PGC and DGC.

Risk factors of early proximal gastric carcinoma in Chinese diagnosed using WHO criteria.

The incidence of proximal gastric carcinoma (PGC) is rising worldwide for unknown reasons. Herein we compare the risk factors of early PGC with distal gastric carcinoma (DGC) in patients treated at a single tertiary hospital in China. Risk factors of 379 consecutive surgically resected early gastric carcinoma (EGC) diagnosed according to the 2010 World Health Organization criteria were studied by reviewing their medical records and esophagogastroduodenoscopy/biopsy findings and interviewing patients and family members for the patients' history of environmental toxin exposure (ETE), dietary habits, family (FCH) and personal cancer history (PCH) and survival. Differences between PGC (n = 115), DGC (n = 264) and age-matched and gender-matched controls (n = 225) were compared. Proportion of early PGC in all EGC patients was increased significantly (P < 0.05). The independent risk factors for both PGC and DGC identified by multivariate analysis were intake of preserved food and little fruit, and gastric mucosal intestinal metaplasia and atrophy (all P < 0.05). Advanced age (odds ratio [OR] 9.83, P < 0.01), PCH (OR 5.09, P < 0.05), a high body mass index (>24 kg/m(2) ) (OR 2.79, P < 0.01) and ETE (OR 2.31, P < 0.05) were independent risk factors for PGC, but not male gender, tobacco or alcohol abuse, hiatus hernia, gastroesophageal reflux disease or columnar-lined esophagus. In contrast, FCH (OR 2.34, P < 0.01) and Helicobacter pylori infection (OR 2.81, P < 0.001) were independent risk factors for DGC. Independent risk factors for PGC in Chinese patients differ from those of DGC or esophageal adenocarcinoma, supporting the classification of PGC as a separate gastric carcinoma entity in the Chinese populations.

Protection against Helicobacter pylori infection in BALB/c mice by oral administration of multi-epitope vaccine of CTB-UreI-UreB.

Chronic gastric infection by the Gram-negative bacterium Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) is strongly associated with gastritis, gastric ulcer and the development of distal gastric carcinoma and gastric mucosal lymphoma in humans. Antibiotic treatment of H. pylori is becoming less effective because of increasing antibiotic resistance; other treatment approaches such as specifically targeted methods, etc. to destroy this organism would be beneficial. An epitope vaccine is a promising option for protection against H. pylori infection. In this study, a multi-epitope vaccine was constructed by linking cholera toxin B subunit (CTB), two antigenic fragments of H. pylori urease I subunit (UreI20-29, UreI98-107) and four antigenic fragments of H. pylori urease B subunit (UreB12-23, UreB229-251, UreB327-400, UreB515-561), resulting in the recombinant CTB-UreI-UreB (BIB). Its protective effect against H. pylori infection was evaluated in BALB/c mice. Significant protection against H. pylori challenge was achieved in BALB/c mice immunized with BIB (15/18, 83.3%), rIB plus rCTB (6/18, 33.3%) and rIB (2/18, 11.1%) separately, while no protective effect was found in the mice immunized with either adjuvant rCTB alone or PBS. The induction of significant protection against H. pylori is possibly mediated by specific serum IgA and mucosal sIgA antibodies, and a mixed Th1/Th2/Th17 cells response. This multi-epitope vaccine might be a promising vaccine candidate that helps to control H. pylori infection.

Clinical effects of laparoscopic-assisted D2 radical gastrectomy for distal gastric carcinoma

Clinical effects of laparoscopic-assisted D2 radical gastrectomy for distal gastric carcinoma

The genomic landscape of oesophagogastric junctional adenocarcinoma

The incidence of oesophagogastric junctional (OGJ) adenocarcinoma is rising rapidly in western countries, in contrast to the declining frequency of distal gastric carcinoma. Treatment options for adenocarcinomas involving the oesophagogastric junction are limited and the overall prognosis is extremely poor. To determine the genomic landscape of OGJ adenocarcinoma, exomes of eight tumours and matched germline DNA were subjected to massively parallel DNA sequencing. Microsatellite instability was observed in three tumours which coincided with an elevated number of somatic mutations. In total, 117 genes were identified that had predicted coding alterations in more than one tumour. Potentially actionable coding mutations were identified in 67 of these genes, including those in CR2, HGF , FGFR4, and ESRRB. Twenty-nine genes harbouring somatic coding mutations and copy number changes in the MSS OGJ dataset are also known to be altered with similar predicted functional consequence in other tumour types. Compared with the published mutational profile of gastric cancers, 49% (57/117) of recurrently mutated genes were unique to OGJ tumours. TP53, SYNE1, and ARID1A were amongst the most frequently mutated genes in a larger OGJ cohort. Our study provides an insight into the mutational landscape of OGJ adenocarcinomas and confirms that this is a highly mutated and heterogeneous disease. Furthermore, we have uncovered somatic mutations in therapeutically relevant genes which may represent candidate drug targets.

The prevalence of helicobacter pylori infection in the Netherlands

Backgrounds. The prevalence of Helicobacter pylori has been declining in the developed countries, as it has the incidence of distal gastric carcinoma. Monitoring this decline and identifying populations not benefiting from this decline is a fit task for public health authorities, with blood donors an obvious source of sera. Materials and methods. We tested 1550 randomly selected blood donors, spread over 5–10 year age cohorts, from four regions in the southern half of The Netherlands, for the presence of antibodies against H. pylori and the CagA antigen. These donors were drawn from an area comprising 46% of the native Dutch population, but did not include non-European immigrants. Results. We observed an age specific decline in the mean seroprevalence of H. pylori from 48% for donors born between 1946 and 1935 to 16% for those born between 1987 and 1977. In H. pylori positive donors, the CagA seroprevalence declined from 38% to 14% in the same age cohorts. There were no significant differences between regions in either prevalence. Conclusions. Our results are compatible with a persistent age-cohort phenomenon for H. pylori prevalence, with the most pronounced decline of CagA+ strains. Nevertheless, almost one in six of the young native Dutch population remains H. pylori positive, implying that, without specific intervention, this bacterium will remain common over the coming decades.

A propensity score–matched case–control comparative study of laparoscopic and open extended (D2) lymph node dissection for distal gastric carcinoma

Technical proficiency at laparoscopic D2 lymph node dissection (LND) is essential for extending the use of laparoscopic surgery beyond the treatment of early gastric cancer (EGC). The aim of this study was to evaluate the technical and oncological feasibility of laparoscopic distal gastrectomy (LDG) with D2 LND for distal gastric cancer. Of 922 patients who underwent open or LDG with D2 LND for gastric carcinoma, 133 treated by LDG and 133 treated by open distal gastrectomy (ODG) were selected using the propensity score matching method. The short-term surgical outcomes and long-term survivals of these matched groups were compared. The two study groups were well matched with respect to age, sex, body mass index, comorbidity, ASA score, abdominal operation history, and tumor stage. The LDG group had a significantly longer mean operating time (227 vs. 161 min, p < 0.001) but showed significantly less intraoperative blood loss (149 vs. 189 ml, p = 0.007). Total numbers of collected lymph nodes were similar in the two groups. Postoperatively, no significant intergroup differences were found for hospital stay, morbidity, or mortality. Furthermore, overall survivals were similar in the two groups (p = 0.621). Multivariate analysis showed that male gender, age ≥70 years, and intraoperative blood loss of ≥200 ml were independent risk factors of postoperative morbidity. Laparoscopic D2 LND for distal gastric cancer is technically safe and feasible compared with ODG. A prospective randomized trial is warranted to evaluate long-term oncological outcomes in advanced gastric carcinoma.

Helicobacter pylori vacA and cagA genotypes in patients from northeastern Brazil with upper gastrointestinal diseases

Helicobacter pylori causes chronic gastric inflammation and significantly increases the risk of duodenal and gastric ulcer disease and distal gastric carcinoma. In this study, we evaluated the Helicobacter pylori vacA and cagA genotypes in patients from a Brazilian region where there is a high prevalence of gastric cancer. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was used to investigate vacA mosaicism and cagA status in the gastric mucosa of 134 H. pylori-positive patients, including 76 with gastritis: 28 with peptic ulcer disease and 30 with gastric cancer. The s1m1 variant was the predominant vacA genotype observed, whereas the s1 allele was more frequently observed in patients with more severe diseases associated with H. pylori infection [p = 0.03, odds ratio (OR) = 5.72, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.15-38.60]. Furthermore, all of the s1 alleles were s1b. Mixed vacA m1/m2 strains were found more frequently in patients with gastric cancer and a cagA-positive status was significantly associated with gastric cancer (p = 0.016, OR = 10.36, 95% CI = 1.35-217.31). Patients with gastric cancer (21/21, 100%, p = 0.006) or peptic ulcers (20/21, 95%, p = 0.02) were more frequently colonised by more virulent H. pylori strains compared to gastritis patients (41/61, 67.2%). In conclusion, in the northeastern of Brazil, which is one of the regions with the highest prevalence of gastric cancer in the country, infection with the most virulent H. pylori strains, carrying the cagA gene and s1m1 vacA alleles, predominates and is correlated with more severe H. pylori-associated diseases.

Downstaging capacity of neoadjuvant chemotherapy in distal versus proximal gastric carcinoma: Preliminary data from a regional tumor registry.

120 Background: Following the results of 3 randomized controlled trials, neoadjuvant chemotherapy has become standard of care for locally advanced gastric cancer in Europe. All of these trials included patients with cancers located in the gastric corpus, antrum, and pylorus (distal gastric cancers, DGC) as well as cancers of the esophagogastric junction and fundus (proximal gastric cancers, PGC). However, data suggest that DGC and PGC may be two distinct tumor entities. The aim of our study was to investigate if the capacity of neoadjuvant chemotherapy to downstage gastric cancers is different for DGC and PGC. Methods: We used data from the clinical regional tumor registry of Magdeburg which covers the northern section of the federal district of Saxony-Anhalt, Germany, to compare pretherapeutic (clinical) and postoperative (histopathological) UICC tumor stages in patients with DGC and PGC treated with neoadjuvant chemotherapy followed by surgery. Results: Of 2,460 gastric cancer patients entered into the registry between January 1993 and September 2010, 189 (7.7%) received neoadjuvant chemotherapy. Of these, 149 underwent surgery with curative intent. Pretherapeutic and postoperative UICC stages were not available for 34 of these patients. A further 42 patients had UICC stage IV documented at laparotomy; since this was likely due to peritoneal carcinomatosis which may have gone unnoticed at the start of neoadjuvant chemotherapy and thus does not reliably indicate upstaging, these patients were excluded from analysis. Of the 73 evaluable patients, 33 (45.2%) had DGC and 40 (54.8%) had PGC. UICC tumor stage decreased during therapy in 55.1% and 75.0%, remained unchanged in 16.3% and 20.8%, and increased in 28.6% and 4.2% of DGC and PGC patients, respectively (p=0.039, Fisher’s exact test). Conclusions: Despite the limited statistical power, these preliminary data suggest that DGC and PGC may differ in their response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy. With more widespread use of neoadjuvant chemotherapy in gastric cancer in recent years, we expect a steep increase in evaluable patients in the tumor registry which will allow for future multivariate analyses regarding this issue.

Trends in incidence, management, and survival of gastric and cardia carcinomas in the area of Finistere (France) between 1984 and 2003

The aim of this study was to evaluate trends in incidence and prognosis of gastric and cardia carcinomas in the area of Finistère (France) between 1984 and 2003. The Digestive Tumor Registry of Finistère recorded all new cases of gastric and cardia carcinomas from January 1, 1984 to December 31, 2003. Raw incidence data were standardized using the direct method based on the reference world population. The data and survival rates were studied in univariate and multivariate analyses. Between 1984-1988 and 1999-2003 the standardized incidence of distal gastric carcinomas decreased (10.74 ± 0.39-5.68 ± 0.27/year/100 000 inhabitants, P < 0.001). There was no significant increase in the incidence of cardia carcinomas (0.83 ± 0.11-1.25 ± 0.14/year/100 000 inhabitants). The frequency of macroscopically infiltrating tumors doubled (P < 0.001) and linitis plastica increased from 9 to 16.2% (P < 0.001). Overall survival rates increased only for patients with metastatic carcinomas of both locations (P < 0.001) and with advanced tumors of distal stomach (P < 0.001) receiving therapy. This study showed a significant decrease over time in the incidence of distal gastric carcinomas but no significant increase in the incidence of cardia carcinomas. Despite improvement in the management of patients, prognosis remains dismal, probably because of an increased incidence of poor prognosis of histological and anatomical types.