Clinical, Endoscopic and Pathological Characteristics of Crawling - type Early Gastric Adenocarcinoma / 胃肠病学

ABSTRACT

Background: Crawling-type gastric adenocarcinoma is a rare subtype of gastric cancer, however, the understanding on this special entity of gastric cancer is still lacking. Aims: To investigate the clinical, endoscopic and pathological characteristics of crawling-type early gastric adenocarcinoma. Methods: Patients diagnosed as crawling-type early gastric adenocarcinoma in Songjiang Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine from January 2016 to December 2021 were recruited consecutively in a retrospective study. The clinical data were reviewed, the pathological specimens were collected for immunohistochemical staining, and a telephone follow-up was conducted for prognosis analysis. Results: Fourteen patients with crawling-type early gastric adenocarcinoma and fulfilling the inclusion criteria were enrolled in the study, of them, 9 were male, 5 were female, and the mean age was 65.9 years old. No family history of gastric cancer was reported. The clinical manifestations were not specific. All patients were positive for Helicobacter pylori (Hp) infection. Tumors were more likely to occur in the middle and lower thirds of the stomach, with marked atrophic background mucosa. Macroscopically, 11 lesions were superficial-depressed (0-IIc) and 3 were superficial-flat type (0-IIb+ IIc). The color of the lesions was red. Lesions with indistinct border were observed endoscopically in 10 cases. Complete resection was achieved in all 14 patients after endoscopic submucosal dissection n=10 or surgical treatment n=4. Three submucosal and 11 intramucosal infiltration were observed pathologically. Immunohistochemical results of gastric (MUC5AC and MUC6) and intestinal (MUC2, CD10 and CDX-2) markers showed that most of the patients were mixed immunophenotype; the Ki-67 index ranged mostly between 30% and 70%. In a mean follow-up time of 38 months, all 14 patients were survived. Two patients with heterochronous early gastric cancer were found by follow-up endoscopy. Conclusions: When a superficial-depressed or superficial-flat type tumor with reddish color change and atrophic background mucosa is observed endoscopically in an Hp-positive patient, the possibility of crawling-type early gastric adenocarcinoma should be considered. Adequate preoperative evaluation should be carried out to judge the extent and depth of tumor invasion, which may guide the decision of treatment strategy. Postoperative endoscopic surveillance is recommended.