The presence of a micropapillary component predicts aggressive behaviour in early and advanced gastric adenocarcinomas

SummaryAimsA micropapillary component (MC) consists of smal tight clusters of tumour cells surrounded by clear spaces resembling lymphatic tumour emboli. Carcinoma with a MC has recently been described as a highly aggressive variant However, little is known about the clinicopathologica significance of the MC in gastric adenocarcinoma.MethodsWe investigated the clinicopathological characteristics of gastric adenocarcinoma with a MC and compared them with those of conventional gastric adenocarcinoma.ResultsAmong 172 cases, 23 (13.4%) cases had a MC. The amount of micropapillary growth pattern in entire tumour areas ranged from 10% to 80%. The presence of a MC ir gastric adenocarcinoma was significantly associated with the depth of invasion, lymph node metastasis, lymphovascular invasion, perineural invasion, higher clinical stages, and poor overall survival rates, but not with age, gender, tumour size location, and Lauren histological types. The MC was present in four (4.7%) of 86 early gastric cancers and all but one ol the early gastric cancers with a MC showed lymph node metastasis (p = 0.02).ConclusionsRecognition of a MC in early and advancec gastric adenocarcinomas is very important as it can predic cancer invasion and metastasis leading to a poor clinica outcome.