Pathology of gastric cancer

Endoscopic management of tumor bleeding from inoperable gastric cancer

Tumor bleeding is not a rare complication in patients with inoperable gastric cancer. Endoscopy has important roles in the diagnosis and primary treatment of tumor bleeding, similar to its roles in other non-variceal upper gastrointestinal bleeding cases. Although limited studies have been performed, endoscopic therapy has been highly successful in achieving initial hemostasis. One or a combination of endoscopic therapy modalities, such as injection therapy, mechanical therapy, or ablative therapy, can be used for hemostasis in patients with endoscopic stigmata of recent hemorrhage. However, rebleeding after successful hemostasis with endoscopic therapy frequently occurs. Endoscopic therapy may be a treatment option for successfully controlling this rebleeding. Transarterial embolization or palliative surgery should be considered when endoscopic therapy fails. For primary and secondary prevention of tumor bleeding, proton pump inhibitors can be prescribed, although their effectiveness to prevent bleeding remains to be investigated.

Outcome of endoscopic therapy for cancer bleeding in patients with unresectable gastric cancer

BACKGROUND AND AIM

Gastric cancer bleeding is not rare complication in patients with advanced gastric cancer (AGC). The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy and clinical outcomes of endoscopic therapy (ET) for upper gastrointestinal bleeding (UGIB) from unresectable AGC.

METHODS

Data from 113 patients with UGIB from unresectable AGC who underwent ET at the National Cancer Center, Korea were analyzed retrospectively. Success rates of endoscopic hemostasis, rebleeding rates, mortality at 30 days, and overall survival (OS) rate after initial hemostasis were investigated.

RESULTS

The initial hemostasis rate was 92.9% (105/113). Electrocoagulation was the most common method used (92.0%, 104/113), and combination ET was required in 34 patients (30.1%). Rebleeding occurred in 43 patients (41.0%); 3-day and 30-day rebleeding rates were 18.1% and 29.5%, respectively. Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that transfusion of packed red blood cells (> 5 units) was associated with early rebleeding (≤ 3 days after initial hemostasis) (odd ratio, 4.75; 95% confidential interval, 1.45-15.57; P = 0.010). ET was attempted in 18 patients with rebleeding; hemostasis was achieved in 88.9%. The 30-day mortality rate after initial bleeding event was 15.9%. Median OS after initial hemostasis was 3.2 months. OS was lower for patients with early rebleeding than for those with late rebleeding (> 3 days after initial hemostasis) or without rebleeding (1.0, 3.1, and 4.3 months, respectively; P = 0.004).

CONCLUSIONS

ET, primarily endoscopic electrocoagulation, achieved a high initial hemostasis rate for UGIB in patients with unresectable AGC. However, rebleeding frequently occurred, and early rebleeding was associated with poor survival.

Carcinoma of stomach and duodenum: radiologic diagnosis and staging

Gastric carcinoma is one of the leading causes of cancer mortality worldwide. Accurate preoperative staging of gastric cancer is important in planning the most effective therapy toward cure or palliation. This article reviews the radiologic diagnosis and staging of gastric cancer.

Fungating carcinoma of the stomach: en bloc multiple organ resection and abdominal wall reconstruction

A patient with carcinoma of the stomach invading multiple adjacent organs and fungating through the anterior abdominal wall was treated by en bloc multiple organ resection and abdominal wall reconstruction. The patient is alive and well at the time of writing, six months after the operation. The rationale for embarking on multiple organ resection for gastric cancer is discussed. However, such an aggressive surgical approach should only be applied to carefully selected patients who are medically fit and have no evidence of widespread systemic metastases.

Pathologic prognostic factors for gastrointestinal cancer

Numerous clinicopathologic factors have been reported to have prognostic significance for gastrointestinal cancer. Many problems, however, confront the surgeon assessing the extent of disease and the clinical and molecular pathologist distinguishing differences in tumor differentiation, behavior, and defining important prognostic markers of cancer. This review assesses current pathologic prognostic variables of gastric and colorectal cancer that have been reported to influence survival.

Gastric cancer: a neoplastic enigma

Effective therapy for gastric cancer remains elusive, and thus surgeons, oncologists, and radiotherapists are continually confounded. Multiple attempts to improve survival in gastric cancer patients have failed, including extended lymphadenectomy (by American surgeons), single- or multiple-agent chemotherapy, and combined-modality therapy (multiple-agent chemotherapy combined with radiation therapy). Such studies have been plagued by the high volume of inadequate antitumor responses or by lethal toxicity. At present, chemotherapy remains the best hope for effective adjuvant therapy, but new routes of drug delivery that will decrease systemic toxicity must be developed. Since gastric cancer recurs locoregionally and infrequently metastasizes to distant sites until very late in its course, theory suggests intraperitoneal (IP) chemotherapy applied to locoregional sites should decrease recurrence without significant systemic toxicity. Such treatments have been effective in other malignancies that commonly occur IP, such as ovarian cancer. Intracavitary chemotherapy protocols for gastric cancer are under development and will soon produce data on treatment efficacy. Such studies offer a theoretic basis for improved survival from gastric cancer; however, only well-controlled treatment trials will confirm if theory can be translated into clinical reality.

Gastric carcinoma in patients younger than age 36 years

The clinical and pathologic features of 18 patients with gastric carcinoma younger than age 36 years were studied. Of these patients, 36.8% were Hispanics of Mexican origin. Eighteen percent of the Mexican population with gastric carcinoma were younger than 36 years as compared to 2.8% of the overall population (P less than 0.05). Fifty percent of the gastric ulcers in the Mexican population were malignant as compared to 6% in the non-Mexican population (P less than 0.05). In addition, a subset of aggressive carcinomas were found. Patients presenting with symptoms of less than 6 months' duration had a survival of less than 6 months, compared to the less aggressive subset, in which patients had symptoms for greater than 6 months and survived longer than 6 months. Racial, environmental influences, or selection bias may account for the differences in gastric carcinoma in the Mexican and non-Mexican population. Factors contributing to a more aggressive form of carcinoma are unclear and require further study.

Changes in the location and type of gastric adenocarcinoma

To document our impression of major changes in aspects of gastric adenocarcinoma, we reviewed and compared 62 consecutive cases from 1975 through 1978 and 31 cases from 1938 through 1942. The average age at diagnosis increased from 58 to 68 years, the male to female ratio decreased to approximately 1:1, and carcinomas composed predominantly (50% or more) of signet-ring cells (SRC) increased from 9 to 39% of the total cases. In the recent series, carcinomas with SRC (compared with those without SRC) occurred nine years earlier, were more frequent in women, were located distally, and had an infiltrative growth pattern. Carcinomas originating in the proximal stomach (cardia) were not noted in the old series but formed 27% of the recent cases. These tumors showed a male predominance, contained SRC less often, and were less commonly associated with chronic gastritis. The implications of these observations are discussed.

Carcinoma of the stomach. Why are we falling to improve survival?

Review of 298 cases of primary gastric malignancy from 1958 to 1978 revealed 265 cases of adenocarcinoma. Overall 5-year survival rate was a disappointing 5.5%, which was less than the earlier series of Oschner Clinic (7.5%). Curative resections produced a five-year survival rate of 26%. Patients presented with advanced disease; 84% had Stage III or IV disease at time of initial observation. The introduction of fiberoptic endoscopy during this period greatly enhanced the accuracy of preoperative diagnosis of tissue-proven cancer from 6% before fiberoptic to 58% since. Worldwide experience is much better, with overall five-year survival rate of 17.9%. Excellent survival statistics from Japanese studies reflect both the effects of mass surveying and early surgery and the prevalence of superficial spreading type of cancer. Improvement of results in this country will require more aggressive evaluation and earlier surgical intervention.