Prognosis of patients with poorly differentiated gastric neuroendocrine neoplasms: a multi-center study in China

Background: The incidence of poorly differentiated gastric neuroendocrine neoplasms (G-NENs) has been increasing during the past decades. Methods: A total of 183 patients diagnosed with poorly differentiated G-NENs were enrolled from eight hospitals during 2010-2019 in China. All cases included have accepted abdominal surgery in tertiary hospitals. Result: T3 (HR: 2.66, p = 0.019), T4 (HR: 3.62, p = 0.005), stage IV (HR: 5.67, p < 0.001), vascular invasion (HR: 1.59, p = 0.048) were independent risk factors for poor prognosis of poorly differentiated G-NENs. In stratified analysis, for patients with stage III tumors, those treated with chemotherapy had significantly longer survival than those accepting surgery alone. Conclusion: T3/T4 stage, TNM stage IV and vascular invasion were independent negative prognostic factors for patients with poorly differentiated G-NENs. Patients with stage III tumors can benefit from chemotherapy. Highly selected patients with stage IV tumors may also benefit from surgery.