Assessment of Elastic Fibers in Tumor Stroma as a New Method to Predict 6-Year Outcomes for Gastric Cancer Patients

Xiaowei Xue; Yuan Li; Yuhan Zhang; Pengyan Wang; Xiaoqing Li; Hongtao Wei; Weixun Zhou

doi:10.3389/fonc.2020.00395

Assessment of Elastic Fibers in Tumor Stroma as a New Method to Predict 6-Year Outcomes for Gastric Cancer Patients

Front Oncol. 2020 Apr 21:10:395. doi: 10.3389/fonc.2020.00395. eCollection 2020.

Authors

Xiaowei Xue¹, Yuan Li¹, Yuhan Zhang¹, Pengyan Wang¹, Xiaoqing Li², Hongtao Wei³, Weixun Zhou¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Pathology, Molecular Pathology Research Center, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Science, Beijing, China.
² Department of Gastroenterology, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Science, Beijing, China.
³ Department of Gastroenterology, Beijing Friendship Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China.

Abstract

Purpose: This study aimed to determine whether detecting elastic fibers in tumor stroma (EFTS) could be used as a new method for predicting the prognosis of gastric cancer (GC) patients. Materials and Methods: EFTS expression was determined by histochemistry in 160 GC patients who underwent gastrectomy. Based on the staining results, the patients were divided into three groups according to their EFTS expression level: low (n = 57), moderate (n = 50), and high (n = 53). The clinicopathological data and 6-year survival data were analyzed among different EFTS groups. Results: The expression of EFTS was closely related to lymphovascular invasion (P = 0.010), blood transfusion in operation (P < 0.001), recurrence rate (P < 0.001), and motility (P < 0.001). High expression of EFTS was also correlated with recurrence-free survival (RFS) and overall survival (OS) in GC patients by Kaplan-Meier curve (P < 0.001 for RFS and P < 0.001 for OS). Conclusions: Multivariate analysis showed that EFTS was an independent prognostic factor for RFS and OS. In conclusion, detecting EFTS to predict the prognosis of GC patients is effective and highly feasible.

Keywords: elastic fibers; gastric cancer; histochemistry; prognosis; tumor stoma.