Clinicopathologic characteristics of mucinous gastric adenocarcinoma

There has been considerable controversy over the prognosis of mucinous gastric enocarcinoma (MGC). In this study we analyzed the clinicopathologic fferences between MGC and non-mucinous gastric carcinoma (NMGC). In addition, e relationship between mucin content and other clinicopathologic variables, cluding prognosis in MGC, was also investigated. We reviewed 2118 patients th pathologically-confirmed gastric cancer who underwent gastrectomy at the partment of Surgery, Yonsei University College of Medicine, during the period tween Jan. 1987 and Dec. 1993. Among them, 130 patients had gastric carcinoma th extracellular mucin (MGC) and 1988 patients had gastric carcinoma without tracellular mucin (NMGC). We placed the MGC patients into two groups according mucin content: mucin content involving over 50% of the tumor (dominant type, = 94) and mucin content involving less than 50% of the tumor area (partial pe, n = 36). The results were as follows: MGC was more common in males than GC. The size of the tumor in MGC (mean 5.3 cm) was larger than that of NMGC ean 4.4 cm). The patients with MGC had a higher incidence of Borrmann type IV GC: 16.1%, NMGC: 9.9%), more frequent serosal invasion (MGC: 75.4%, NMGC: .6%), lymph-node metastasis (MGC: 75.4%, NMGC: 50.7%), and peritoneal tastasis (MGC: 10.0%, NMGC: 3.5%) than patients with NMGC. The patients with C were more advanced in stage at the time of diagnosis and had a worse overall -year survival rate (44.9%) than patients with NMGC (54.7%). However, the -year survival rate according to the stage of MGC was similar to that of NMGC. ere were no significant differences between the mucin content and other thologic variables, including prognosis, i.e. similar biologic behavior tween dominant type MGC and partial type MGC. In conclusion, we suggest that C was more frequently diagnosed in advanced stage than NMGC with a poorer ognosis and that it is reasonable to consider the carcinoma with mucin content volving more than 30% of the tumor area as MGC.