6 directions that determine the prognosis of gastric cancer

The most concerning issue for gastric cancer patients and their families is whether gastric cancer can be cured. Although cancer seems scary, it can actually be defeated. Some people can live for more than 20 years with high quality of life even if they have advanced gastric cancer.

Whether gastric cancer patients can be cured is mainly related to the following factors.

1. Location of disease: It is generally believed that the prognosis of cancer in the gastric body is better, that of cancer in the gastric fundus, cardia, and antrum is worse, and that of cancer with extensive infiltration is the worst.

2. Diffusion and metastasis: The diffusion and metastasis of gastric cancer will also affect the prognosis of gastric cancer patients. The prognosis of gastric cancer that infiltrates and spreads within the stomach wall is better than that of gastric cancer that breaks through the gastric serosa and spreads to the abdominal cavity and adjacent organs.

3. Depth of invasion: The depth of tumor invasion of gastric cancer is in the order of lamina propria, submucosa, superficial muscle layer, deep muscle layer, serosa and extraserosa. The deeper the infiltration, the lower the patient's five-year survival rate.

4. Tumor size: The smaller the tumor, the better the prognosis. For example, for microgastric cancer, the five-year survival rate after surgery can reach 100%. However, it is not absolutely true that smaller is better than larger. The analysis also needs to be combined with factors such as the tumor's growth pattern and pathological classification.

5. Macroscopic type: Among advanced gastric cancer, the localized ulcer type has a better prognosis, the diffuse infiltration type has a worse prognosis, and the diffuse extensive infiltration type with leathery stomach has the worst prognosis.

6. Histological morphology: Well-differentiated papillary adenocarcinoma and tubular adenocarcinoma have a good prognosis, while undifferentiated carcinoma and mucinous cell carcinoma have a poor prognosis. Sclerosing carcinomas with obvious fibrous sclerotic stroma in their histological structure have the worst prognosis.

That is to say, when all factors are in the best prognostic situation, gastric cancer can be cured.