OBJECTIVETo explore the clinicopathological characteristics and prognosis of familial gastric cancer(FGC) and to provide clinical evidence for rational treatment program.

METHODSClinicopathological data of 91 patients with FGC and 293 patients with sporadic gastric cancer(SGC) in our department from March 2003 to October 2007 were retrospectively analyzed and compared between the two groups.

RESULTSTumors with a diameter of less than or equal to 5 cm were more common in FGC patients than SGC patients [65.9%(60/91) vs. 52.6%(154/293), P=0.025]. Proportion of FGC patients with poor differentiation was significantly higher as compared to SGC patients [68.1%(62/91) vs. 55.6%(163/293), P=0.034]. The 5-year overall survival rate in FGC patients was significantly lower than that in SGC patients(25.6% vs. 38.9%, P=0.001). Further stratified analysis revealed that the 5-year survival rates of T4 FGC and T4 SGC patients were 14.5% and 30.5% respectively, the 5-year survival rates of N3 FGC and N3 SGC patients were 10.4% and 17.3% respectively, and the differences were statistically significant(all P<0.05), while other T stage and N stage between the two groups were not significantly different(all P>0.05). Univarite analysis showed that tumor size, tumor location, pathological type, operation method, infiltration depth and lymph node metastasis were influencing factors of prognosis of FGC. Multivariate analysis showed that tumor size(HR=2.271), pathology types(HR=1.449), lymph node metastasis(HR=1.748) and the infiltration depth(HR=1.487) were independent risk factors affecting the prognosis of patients with FGC.

CONCLUSIONCompared with SGC, FGC is associated with poor differentiation and poor prognosis.