Clinical Significance of Lymphovascular Invasion and Effect of Postoperative Chemotherapy in Gastric Cancer

Hideo Baba, Tatsuo Oshiro, Akinobu Taketomi, Hideaki Nakashima, Shunji Kohnoe, Yousuke Seo

Department of Gastroenterologic Surgery, National Kyushu Cancer Center

We investigated the clinical significance of lymphovascular invasion in gastric cancer with regard to the correlation between lymphovascular invasion and clinicopathologic factors, recurrence, and prognosis. We also examined the effect of postoperative chemotherapy on recurrence of gastric cancer. Factors related to lymphovascular invasion of gasric cancer were tumor size, tumor location, macroscopic appearance, histologic type, depth of invasion, INF, lymph node metastasi, peritoneal dissemination, and hepatic metastasis. Lymphovascular invasion was extensive in patients with postoperative recurrence, regardless of the site of recurrence. Postoperative chemotherapy including mitomycin C and 5-FU and its analog was found to be significantly effective in cases with vascular invasion. We conclude that extensive lymphadenectomy must be employed in patients with gastric cancers with larger size, deep invasion, and location in the upper third of the stomach. Postoperative chemotherapy may reduce postoperative recurence in patients with gastric cancer that has invaded the blood vessels.

Key words
gastric cancer, lymphovascular invasion, recurrence

Reprint requests
Hideo Baba Department of Gastroenterologic Surgery, National Kyushu Cancer Center
3-1-1 Notame, Minami-ku, Fukuoka, 811-1347 JAPAN

Accepted
July 22, 1998

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