It was generally believed that the prognosis of gastric neuroendocrine carcinoma (GNEC) was worse than gastric adenocarcinoma (GAC). However, almost all previous studies compared the prognosis of GNEC and GAC based on East Asians. In this study, we evaluated the clinicopathological features and prognosis of GNEC and GAC in Whites. Patients with GNEC and GAC were identified from 2000 to 2018 in the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database. We used propensity score matching (PSM) analysis to match the age, sex, TNM stage, and treatments received between GNEC and GAC, then compared the overall survival (OS) and cancer-specific survival (CSS) in the two types. A total of 392 cases of GNEC and 12,835 cases of GAC in Whites were recognized. After PSM, the 5-year OS rates of GNEC and GAC were 50.3% and 43.0%, respectively (p = 0.010). The 5-year CSS rates of GNEC and GAC were 57.4% and 50.1%, respectively (p = 0.012). Besides, multivariable cox regression analyses showed that GNEC was an independent predictor of improved OS (HR 0.719; 95% CI 0.607-0.853) and CSS (HR 0.691; 95% CI 0.571-0.835) in the matched data. The prognosis of GNEC was better than GAC in Whites, showing significant ethnic differences. Appropriate treatments and follow-up strategies for GNEC in Whites are probably different from East Asians. The potential genetic and molecular mechanisms need to be further explored.
Keywords: gastric adenocarcinoma; gastric cancer; gastric neuroendocrine carcinoma; prognosis; survival outcome.