Assessment of vascular invasion in gastric cancer: A comparative study

Table 1 Clinicopathological characteristics of 95 patients with gastric cancer n (%)

Clinicopathological data
Sex
Male	62 (65.3)
Female	33 (34.7)
Curvature
Small curvature	54 (56.8)
Large curvature	10 (10.5)
Small and large	14 (14.7)
Not evaluated	17 (17.9)
Primary tumor
pT1a	9 (9.5)
pT1b	12 (12.6)
pT2a	12 (12.6)
pT2b	8 (8.4)
pT3	51 (53.7)
pT4	3 (3.2)
Regional lymph nodes
pN0	28 (29.5)
pN1	36 (37.9)
pN2	13 (13.7)
pN3	12 (12.6)
pNx	6 (6.3)
Distant metastasis
pMx	87 (91.6)
pM1	8 (8.4)
Laurén classification
Intestinal	45 (47.4)
Diffuse	25 (26.3)
Mixed/indeterminate	25 (26.3)
WHO classification
Adenocarcinoma NOS	48 (50.5)
Tubular	5 (5.3)
Papillary	5 (5.3)
Mucinous	4 (4.2)
Signet-ring cell	22 (23.2)
Undifferentiated	9 (9.5)
Others	2 (2.2)
Ming classification
Expansive	40 (42.1)
Infiltrative	40 (42.1)
Not evaluated	15 (15.8)

NOS: Not otherwise specified; WHO: World Health Organization; pT: Primary tumor; pN: Regional lymph nodes; pM: Distant metastasis.

Table 2 Diagnostic agreement between methods of detection for lymphatic and blood vessel invasion (n = 95)

		HE	IHC	P value	κ
LVI	Positive	61	66	0.38	0.50
	Negative	34	29
BVI	Positive	38	26	0.02	0.20
	Negative	57	69

BVI: Blood vessel invasion; LVI: Lymphatic vessel invasion; HE: Hematoxylin and eosin; IHC: Immunohistochemistry.

Table 3 Correlation between lymphatic and blood vessel invasion and lymph node status (n = 89) n (%)

Vascular invasion		Lymph node metastasis		P value
		Negative	Positive
LVI–HE	Negative	23 (71.8)	9 (28.2)
	Positive	5 (8.8)	52 (91.2)	0.001
LVI–IHC	Negative	20 (74.0)	7 (26.0)
	Positive	8 (13.0)	54 (87.0)	0.001
BVI–HE	Negative	22 (41.5)	31 (58.5)
	Positive	6 (16.6)	30 (83.4)	0.013
BVI–IHC	Negative	25 (38.5)	40 (61.5)
	Positive	3 (12.5)	21 (87.5)	0.019

IHC: Immunohistochemistry; HE: Hematoxylin and eosin; BVI: Blood vessel invasion; LVI: Lymphatic vessel invasion.

Table 4 Correlation of lymphatic and blood vessel invasion detected by immunohistochemistry with other prognostic factors (n = 95) n (%)

Data	LVI			BVI
	Negative	Positive	P value	Negative	Positive	P value
Tumor location
Distal third	15 (27.3)	40 (72.7)	0.0391	42 (76.3)	13 (23.7)	0.281
Other locations	14 (35.0)	26 (65.0)		29 (72.5)	11 (27.5)
Curvature
Small curvature	19 (35.2)	35 (64.8)	0.122	41 (76.0)	13 (24.0)	0.131
Large curvature	3 (30.0)	7 (70.0)		8 (80.0)	2 (20.0)
Small and large	1 (7.2)	13 (92.8)		7 (50.0)	7 (50.0)
Macroscopy
Borrmann I	5 (71.4)	2 (28.6)	0.0011	7 (100.0)	0 (0.0)	0.24
Borrmann II	4 (13.3)	26 (86.7)		21 (70.0)	9 (30.0)
Borrmann III	5 (18.5)	22 (81.5)		17 (62.9)	10 (37.1)
Borrmann IV	0 (0.0)	12 (100.0)		7 (58.3)	5 (41.7)
Organ invasion
Negative	26 (45.6)	31 (54.4)	0.0031	46 (80.7)	11 (19.3)	0.297
Duodenum	1 (4.3)	22 (95.7)		15 (65.2)	8 (34.8)
Esophagus	1 (12.5)	7 (87.5)		6 (75.0)	2 (25.0)
Both E + D	0 (0.0)	3 (100.0)		1 (33.3)	2 (66.7)
Other	1 (25.0)	3 (75.0)		3 (75.0)	1 (25.0)
Tumor depth
Early	17 (80.9)	4 (19.1)	0.0011	21 (100.0)	0 (0.0)	0.0031
Advanced	12 (16.2)	62 (83.8)		50 (67.5)	24 (32.5)
Laurén histology
Intestinal	12 (26.6)	33 (73.3)	0.228	36 (80.0)	9 (20.0)	0.332
Diffuse	11 (44.0)	14 (56.0)		19 (76.0)	6 (24.0)
Mixed/not classified	6 (24.0)	19 (76.0)		16 (64.0)	9 (36.0)

BVI: Blood vessel invasion; LVI: Lymphatic vessel invasion; E + D: Esophagus + duodenum.