Objective To assess the safety and effect of different intravenous chemotherapic regimens in patients with gastric carcinomas who had received gastrectomy. Method A systematic review of all the relevant randomized controlled trials (RCTs) was performed. RCTs were identified from Medline and Embase (1980-2001.4), Chinese Bio-medicine Database (1990-2001.1). Literature references were checked at the same time. We included randomized andquasi-randomized trials in patients with confirmed gastric carcinomas who had received gastrectomy comparing the effect of intravenous chemotherapy after gastrectomy with that of gastrectomy alone.Results Twenty trials involving 4 171 patients were included. Meta-analysis was done with fixed effects model. Heterogeneity analyses was performed also. The effects of intravenous chemotherapy with 5FU + MCCNU, 5FU + MMC, 5FU + BCNU or FAM after gastrectomy were failed to show have better effects than that of surgery alone. There were eleven trials which detailed the side effects according to the toxicity grade by WHO standard. The side effects halting treatment were haematologic and biochemical toxicity, debilitating nausea and vomiting. There were twenty-two patients died of chemotherapic toxicity. Conclusions Based on the review, there is no enough evidence to show that intravenous chemotherapy after gastrectomy have positive treatment effect on gastric cancer.
Objective To evaluate the status of lymph node metastasis and reasonable procedure in gastric cancer. Methods The incidence of metastases from gastric cancer to various regional lymph node stations was studied in 1 505 patients with gastric cancer. The patients underwent surgical resection from January 1995 to December 2004.Results Lymph node metastasis were observed in 928 of 1 505 cases (61.7%). Lymph node metastasis frequency was found in groups No.1 （32.9%），No.3 （28.7%）， No.2 （20.4%）， and No.7 （18.6%） at upper third stomach cancer；in groups No.3 （32.5%）， No.4 （24.7%）， No.7 （20.6%）， and No.1 （17.3%） at middle third stomach cancer； in groups No.6 （33.7%）， No.3 （31.3%）， No.4 （25.6%）， and No.7 （21.5%） at lower third stomach cancer. Conclusions Distribution of metastatic lymph node is clearly related to the location of the tumor. Anatomical extent of lymph node metastases in gastric cancer provid surgical guidance for surgeons.
Objective To evaluate the value of plain and dual-phasic enhanced 16-slice CT in the diagnosis and preoperative TNM staging of the gastric carcinoma, and to discuss the relationship between image signs and pathologic findings. Methods Fifty-three cases of the gastric carcinoma confirmed histopathologically underwent 16-slice CT examination. The scan protocol included plain scanning, the arterial phase and portal venous phase scanning. The manifestation of the three series images and multiplanar reconstruction (MPR) images were analyzed. Results ①The accuracies of 16-slice CT for the T stage, the N stage and the M stage of the gastric carcinoma were 83.02%, 80.00% and 92.45% respectively. ②The overall accuracy of 16-slice CT for judging TNM stage was 84.91%. Conclusion The plain scan and dual phase enhanced scans of 16-slice CT, especially the thin slice and MPR with proper windows technique are helpful for the diagnosis of gastric carcinoma and the TNM stage, which is useful for the selection of the operative project and the therapy plan.
ObjectiveTo evaluate the effect of preoperative regional intraarterial infusion chemotherapy on the prognosis of advanced gastric cancer. MethodsThe clinical data of 80 patients who underwent curative resection for advanced gastric cancers were summarized.Among them,33 patients carried out preoperative regional intraarterial infusion chemotherapy were as the interventional chemotherapy group,and the remaining 47 patients were the control group.Eleven factors including clinical and pathological data,treatment procedures and molecular biological makers that contributed to the longterm survival rate were analyzed by Cox multivariate regression analysis.ResultsThe 5year survival rate of the interventional group was 59.3%,and the control group 47.6%.There was significant difference between two groups (P＜0.05).Multivariate regression analysis revealed that the preoperative regional intraarterial infusion chemotherapy was one of the independent factors affecting the longterm survival of patients with advanced gastric cancers.ConclusionThe preoperative regional intraarterial infusion chemotherapy has important value for improving the prognosis of gastric cancer.
Objective To investigate the effect of mRNA expression of gelatinase A on the invasion and metastasis of human gastric carcinoma (HGC). MethodsThirtysix cases of HGC were examined by in situ hybridization technique. ResultsPositive expression rates of gelatinase A in the normal gastric tissue, peritumor tissue and HGC were 8.3%,35.7% and 83.3% respectively （P＜0.01）. The positive rates of gelatinase A in the group with serosal invasion and lymph node metastasis were 93.1% and 90.6%, much higher than those in the group with negative ones (42.9% and 25.0%).By in situ hybridization, gelatinase A mRNA was showed to be expressed in the extracellular matrix of tumor tissues,which surrounded the invasive margin of cancer tissues. The positive cells at these sites were mainly tumorinfiltrating macrophages. Conclusion There is good correlation between gelatinase A mRNA expression and the invasion, metastasis of HGC. So it can be used as a useful marker for invasion and metastasis of HGC.
Objective To investigate the clinicopathological characteristics of proximal gastric cancer (PGC). MethodsThe clinical course and pathologic feature of 118 PGC patients were analyzed, and compared with those of 310 distal gastric cancer (DGC) patients. ResultsThe incidence of PGC was lower than DGC, the percentage of Ⅲ,Ⅳ stages and undifferentiated type in the PGC group were significantly higher than in DGC. For the surgical procedure, patients in the PGC had significantly higher percentages of total gastrectomy and other organ resection than in DGC. The percentage of patients with positive margin and lymph node metastasis in PGC was also significantly higher than in DGC. Esophageal invasion and lymph node metastasis were much more in PGC. The 5year survival of patients with PGC was significantly lower than that with DGC. No significant differences were found between the two groups with respect to the mortality rates and complications. Conclusion The relatively poor prognosis associated with PGC is mainly from advanced cases and esophageal invasion. Early detection and treatment is the most important strategy to improve the survival of patients with PGC.
Objective To clarify the most important factors affecting the survival of patient with gastric carcinoma. Methods 428 cases of resected gastric carcinoma were studied by using univariate analyses and multivariate regression analyses. Results The most significant factors influencing survival of these patients were peritoneal dissemination, Borrmann classification, type of operation, hepatic metastasis, size of tumor, location, lymph node metastasis and age. Conclusion The factors influencing survival in patient with gastric carcinoma after resection can be correctly analyzed by cox’s proportional hazard model.
Objective To analyze the clinicopathologic characteristics of remnant gastric cancer （RGC）. Methods The clinical data of 114 patients with RGC treated in The Second Affiliated Hospital of Northern Sichuan MedicalCollege and The General Hospital of Chinese People’s Liberation Army from March 2000 to May 2008 were reviewed and analyzed retrospectively. The clinicopathologic characteristics between the patients with primary benign diseases and those with malignant diseases were evaluated. Results A total of 114 cases，the age was （62.6±11.3） years，and the males versus females was 4.7∶1.0. Most patients （76.2%，64/84） were diagnosed at advanced stages （consistent with pT），and the proportion of pT1 stage cases was only 23.8% （20/84），tumor invasion pT4 was 60.7% （51/84）. It was more common that tumor directly invaded adjacent organs or structures （27.4%，23/84），lymph nodes positive （42.9%，36/84），and distant metastasis （27.2%，31/114）. The location of distant metastasis was usually confined in the abdominal cavity （93.5%，29/31），and the peritoneum disseminated was the most commonly structures （67.7%，21/31）. Histologically，the incidence of poorly differentiated adenocarcinoma （76.7%，79/103） was the mostly histologic grade as well as the diffuse type （78.6%，81/103） was the mostly Laurén classification. Between the patients with primary benign diseases and those with initial malignant disease，the initial gastrectomy or the methods of reconstruction had significantly differences （both P=0.000）. The median time from initial resection to development of RGC was 30.0 years in the patients with original benign disease，contrary to 3.3 years in those with previous malignant disease （P=0.000）. Both primary diseases （benign or malignant） and the age at initial gastrectomy were the major influencing factors for the time of RGC developed （P＜0.05）. For pathohistology characters，except signet-ring cell carcinoma （P=0.045）， pT4b （P=0.049），pN stage （P=0.025），and Borrmann classification （P=0.005），there were no significant differences between the patients with previous benign diseases and those with original malignant disease，as well as the resectability rate，curative resection （R0） rate，and overall survival rate （P＞0.05）. Conclusions It is almost unaffected by originalbenign diseases or malignant diseases for clinicopathologic characteristics including the treatment option and prognostic factors.It is necessary and feasibility to form a pattern of endoscopic follow-up for RGC.
Objective To investigate perfusion features of gastric antrum cancer by 64-multidetector CT and to assess the correlation between perfusion CT parameters and immunohistochemical markers of angiogenesis in gastric cancer. Methods Perfusion CT was performed in 30 patients with gastric antrum cancer （gastric antrum cancer group） and 24 patients with normal stomach (control group), and postoperative specimens were stained using a polyclonal antibody to VEGF and CD34. The correlation between perfusion parameters and microvessel density (MVD), and VEGF were analyzed. Results Blood volume (BV) increased in the gastric antrum cancer group (Plt;0.01). There was no significant difference in perfusion (PF), peak enhancement (PE), or time to peak (TTP) between the gastric antrum cancer and the normal groups (Pgt;0.05). BV was positively significantly correlated with MVD （r=0.522, P=0.02), but no significant correlation was found between PF （r=0.072, P=0.78), PE （r=0.253, P=0.31), or TTP （r=0.235, P=0.35) and MVD. No correlation was found between PF （r=-0.208, P=0.45), PE （r=-0.251, P=0.37), TTP（r=-0.284, P=0.31), or BV（r=-0.472, P=0.09) and VEGF.Conclusion Blood volume can evaluate the angiogenesis of tumor and perfusion CT can be a tool to assess microvessel status in gastric antrum cancer.
Objective To investigate the expression of growth hormone receptor (GHR) in human gastric cancer tissue. Methods The GHR was detected in samples of the human gastric cancer (57 cases) and the distal normal tissues (57 cases) by immunohistochemistry technique. Results The GHR expression positive rate was 80.7%(46/57) in the human gastric cancer tissues and 70.2%(40/57) in the distal normal tissues. There was no statistic difference between the human gastric cancer tissues and the distal normal tissues (Pgt;0.05). There were also no statistic differences among the gastric cancer tissues of different differentiation, different tissue type, different gender and different age ranges (Pgt;0.05). Conclusion It is similar that the expression of GHR between the human gastric cancer tissues and the distal normal tissues.