Clinicopathologic features of mucinous gastric carcinoma

Mucinous gastric carcinoma (MGC) is a histopathologic subtype of gastric carcinoma with a poor prognosis. The purpose of this study was to compare the disease course of MGC with non-mucinous gastric carcinoma (NMGC) and study the clinicopathologic features that influence the prognosis of MGC patients.

We reviewed the records of 2,383 patients with a confirmed histologic diagnosis of gastric carcinoma. There were 157 patients with MGC compared to 2,226 with NMGC.

A depth of invasion greater than T3 was more frequently found in MGC than in NMGC. The mean number of lymph nodes with metastases was 2.78 in MGC and 2.28 in NMGC (p < 0.001). There were more MGC patients with TNM stages II through IV (UICC classification). The overall survival rate was lower for the MGC group (46.5%) than for the NMGC group (64.0%; p < 0.05). Depth of invasion, lymph node metastases, and stage at diagnosis were significant factors affecting the outcome.

The factors influencing the poorer prognosis (lower 5-year survival rate) of MGC are the advanced stage at the time of diagnosis, lymph node metastases, and a higher TNM status. Mucinous histologic type itself was not an independent predictive factor in survival.