Clinical characteristics and prognostic factors of patients with gastric neuroendocrine carcinoma treated with radical surgery

Background Gastric neuroendocrine carcinomas （g-NECs） are rare tumors that have aggressive biological behaviors and poor prognosis,but the prognostic factors of postoperative patients with g-NEC are still unclear.Our aim was to study and explore the clinical characteristics and prognostic factors of patients with g-NEC treated with radical surgery.Methods The clinical data of 43 g-NEC patients who underwent surgery from January 2002 to January 2011 at the Zhongshan Hospital of Fudan University were analyzed.Follow-up was conducted by telephone,mail,or returning visit survey.Results The sizes of the 43 neuroendocrine carcinomas （G3） were 1.5 cm × 1.5 cm × 0.5 cm to 7 cm × 8 cm × 1.5 cm.Eight NECs were localized,and 35 had lymph node involvement,of which 1 also had hepatic metastasis.At the end of the follow-up,the follow-up rate was 97.7％ （42/43）,and the median follow-up time was 22.2 months.The median overall survival of g-NEC patients was 36.5 months,and the 1-,3-,and 5-year overall survival rates were 86.0％,51.6％,and 36.7％,respectively.Sex （P ＜0.05） and lymph node involvement （P ＜0.05） were prognostic factors of postoperative g-NEC patients,among which sex was an independent prognostic factor （P ＜0.05）,as a survival advantage of female patients over male was observed.Conclusions Most of the g-NECs were diagnosed at an advanced stage.The prognosis of g-NECs was related with sex and lymph node involvement,of which sex was an independent prognostic factor,with female patients having a survival advantage.