Abstract:
Background Tumor-stromal ratio has been proved to be a new prognostic factor for many different tumors, and its predictive value in gastric cancer needs to be evaluated.
Objective To evaluate the prognostic value of tumor-stromal ratio in patients with gastric cancer.
Methods From January 2016 to January 2017, clinical and histopathological data of patients with gastric cancer who underwent gastrectomy in the First Medical Center of Chinese PLA General Hospital were collected. Using tumor stroma ratio (50%) as the cut-off value, the patients were divided into stroma sparse group (<50%) and stroma-rich group (≥ 50%). The histopathological results and survival were compared between the two groups.
Results There were 115 cases in total, and 53 cases were in the high TSR group and 62 cases in the low TSR group. The patients in the low TSR group had higher local invasion rate of T3/T4 (64.5% vs 39.6%, P=0.008), higher proportion of N2/N3 (54.8% vs 2.4%, P=0.008) and higher TNM stage (33.9% vs 15.1%, P=0.021). Patients in the low TSR group showed a higher proportion of lymphatic vascular infiltration (51.6% vs 24.5%, P=0.003) and nerve infiltration (72.6% vs 54.7%, P=0.046). Compared with patients in the high TSR group, the 3-year overall survival rate (70.0% vs 24.0%, P<0.001) and disease-free survival rate (62.0% vs 20.0%, P<0.001) of patients in the low TSR group were significantly lower. Cox proportional hazards regression analysis showed that poor tumor stroma ratio (OS: HR=0.281, 95% CI=0.138 - 0.574; DFS: HR=0.289, 95% CI=0.170-0.489), high TNM stage (OS: HR=0.192, 95% CI=0.087-0.426; DFS: HR=0.223, 95% CI=0.130-0.382) and neuronal invasion (OS: HR=0.407, 95% CI=0.233 - 0.710; DFS: HR=0.526, 95% CI=0.325 - 0.852) were independent risk factors for OS and DFS.
Conclusion Low tumor stroma ratio is an independent risk factor for poor prognosis of patients with gastric cancer. It is suggested that it should be included in routine clinicopathological reports, which can provide important reference information for postoperative follow-up and treatment.