Detection and Characterization of Metastatic Cancer Cells in the Mesogastrium of Gastric Cancer Patients

PLoS One. 2015 Nov 13;10(11):e0142970. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0142970. eCollection 2015.

Abstract

Gastric cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death worldwide. Here, we propose a novel type of tumor metastasis designated as Metastasis V in gastric cancer. Metastasis V is defined as the appearance of cancer cells in the mesogastrium with perigastric adipose tissue. To detect its incidence and characterize its clinic pathological features, large cross sectional tissue analysis of mesogastrium from 74 patients were used. Metastasis V was detected in 1 of 40 (2.5%) patients with early gastric cancer, 8 of 34 (24%) patients with advanced gastric cancer. The mean distance of Metastasis V from gastric wall was approximately 2.6 cm. Metastasis V was closely associated with tumor invasion depth, along with a number of positive lymph node metastasis. The prognosis of patients with Metastasis V was significantly (P<0.05) worse than those with tumor cell-free mesogastrium. These findings indicate that by using whole-sectional analysis, Metastasis V can be detected in the mesogastrium of gastric cancer patients, and also suggests that it may be a risk factor for patient survival after radical surgery.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adipose Tissue / pathology
  • Adult
  • Aged
  • Cohort Studies
  • Female
  • Gastrectomy
  • Humans
  • Immunohistochemistry
  • Lymph Node Excision
  • Lymphatic Metastasis
  • Male
  • Mesentery / pathology*
  • Middle Aged
  • Neoplasm Invasiveness
  • Neoplasm Metastasis*
  • Neoplasm Recurrence, Local
  • Neoplasm Staging
  • Prognosis
  • Stomach Neoplasms / diagnosis*
  • Stomach Neoplasms / pathology*
  • Stomach Neoplasms / surgery
  • Young Adult

Grants and funding

This study was supported by the National Science Foundation of China, grant numbers: 81572861; 81201638; 81302309; 81372324.