Clinicopathological characteristics and prognosis of carcinoma of the gastric cardia

The prognosis of patients with carcinoma of the gastric cardia (CGC) is poorer than that of patients with distal third gastric carcinoma (DTGC). The main aim of this study is to investigate whether the tumor location is an important prognostic factor.

312 patients (8.1%) were diagnosed with CGC and reviewed retrospectively.

T1 stage tumors were less common in patients with CGC than in those with DTGC (p< 0.001). Lymph node invasion was more common in CGC patients than in DTGC patients (p< 0.01). Multivariate analysis showed that patient age, lymph node status, and resection with curative intent were significant prognostic factors for the survival of CGC patients. Of the patients who underwent tumor resection with curative intent, the 5-year survival rate of CGC patients was lower than that of DTGC patients (57.4 vs. 63.1%), but no significant difference was observed between the two groups (p> 0.05). When the CGC group was divided into patients who underwent resection with or without curative intent, the 5-year survival rates were 52.8 and 6.0%, respectively (p< 0.001).

According to our results, curative resection itself, rather than tumor location, was the determining factor in improving 5-year survival.