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Published on: May 1, 2019
Macroscopic Serosal Classification as a Prognostic Index in Radically Resected Stage pT3-pT4b Gastric Cancer
Hong-Hu Wang1, Jin-Yu Huang1, Zhen-Ning Wang1
1Department of Surgical Oncology, First Affiliated Hospital of China Medical University, Shenyang, Liaoning, China.
Background:
Macroscopic serosal classification (MSC) is an important clinicopathologic index of gastric cancer (GC). To investigate the prognostic significance of MSC status in patients with radically resected stage pT3-pT4b GC, we examined the relationship between MSC type and pT stage.
Methods:
Clinicopathologic and survival data of 1613 patients with stage pT3-pT4b GC were studied retrospectively, in the aftermath of radical surgery.
Results:
MSC types, including reactive, nodular, tendonoid, and color-diffused type, correlated significantly with overall survival (OS) in this cohort, but prognosis was similar for all stages of color-diffused type GC. We proposed a revised pT stage in which color-diffused type cancers at pT3 or pT4a stage were reclassified into pT4b stage. In two-step multivariate analysis, revised pT stage (stage pT4b for all color-diffused types) proved more suitable for determining prognosis, surpassing both Union for International Cancer Control/American Joint Committee on Cancer pT stage and MSC type as an independent prognostic index.
Conclusions:
MSC type is a significant and independent prognostic index of OS in patients with radically resected stage pT3-pT4b GC. For prognostic purposes, tumors of color-diffused type at pT3 or pT4a stage should be considered stage pT4b disease.

