BACKGROUNDHepatoid adenocarcinoma of the stomach (HAS) is a rare type of gastric carcinoma, which has its unique clinicopathological features and poorer prognosis than that of the ordinary gastric adenocarcinoma. At present, there is still a lack of understanding about this disease. The current study aimed to summarize and discuss the clinical, pathological, immunohistochemical, and prognostic features of this disease.

METHODSA total of 20 patients of HAS were retrospectively studied. All the patients were treated in Cancer Hospital of Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences between March 1998 and October 2009. Statistical analysis, including the Kaplan-Meier method, log-rank test and Cox model, were performed by the SPSS 15.0 software.

RESULTSSeventeen patients (85%) had at least 1 lymph node metastases; 17 patients (85%) received postoperative immunohistochemical examinations, with an alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) positive rate of 94.1% (16/17); 14 patients had distant metastases (including 12 liver metastases, 1 lung metastasis, and 1 celiac widespread metastases), and one simultaneously had anastomotic recurrence and liver metastases. The overall survival time was 2 - 99 months (median: 12.0 months). The 3-year survival rate of the 20 patients was 17.2%. The 3-year survival rate of patients with complete hepatocyte-like regions and those with both hepatocellular carcinoma and adenocarcinoma regions was 20.0% and 17.5%, respectively (P = 0.361). The survival difference among the radical surgery group, palliative surgery group and no surgery group was statistically significant (P = 0.022). The Kaplan-Meier method and log-rank test showed that surgery, pTNM stages, and adjuvant chemotherapy were associated with prognosis (P < 0.05). The Cox model only confirmed that the pTNM stages and adjuvant chemotherapy had statistical significance for the prognosis of HAS (P < 0.05) due to the limited cases.

CONCLUSIONSHAS is a special type of gastric carcinoma and has a poor prognosis. The pTNM stage is an independent risk factor for HAS. Multidisciplinary therapy, including surgery and chemotherapy, may improve the prognosis of HAS.