Therefore, this may have influenced the survival data

Therefore, this may have influenced the survival data. glycoprotein that elevated in the serum of patients breast, pancreatic, ovarian, colon, and gastric cancers. CA72-4 was regarded as one of the most specific and sensitive markers for gastric cancers. However, it has not been routinely tested for gastric cancer patients in our hospital before 2005. At the present time, the value of these tumor markers in T4a stage gastric cancer was still elusive, which was responsible for more than 40% of gastric cancer and likely to present abnormal serum level of tumor markers. In this retrospective study, we evaluated the association between tumor markers and clinicopathological features and the prognostic value of tumor markers in T4a stage gastric cancer. Methods Patients In total, 273 patients with histologically confirmed primary gastric adenocarcinoma underwent curative gastrectomy at the Department of Abdominal Surgery, Cancer Hospital, Fudan University between January 1996 and December 2005. Data were retrieved from their operative and pathological reports, and follow-up data were obtained by phone, outpatient clinical database, and letter. Informed consent was given to all participants. Ethical approval was given by Cancer Hospital. The study comprised 192 men and 81 women aged 22 to 78?years, mean age was 56??12?years. There were 117 patients aged more than 59?years; the ratio of men to women was 192:81; 14 patients had a family history of gastric cancer; 198 patients liked to eat fried food, 50 patients liked to eat food rich in fat, and the other 25 patients had no special preference to fried food or fatty food; 64 cases had a history of smoking. Staging was performed according to the American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) TNM Staging Classification S3QEL 2 for Carcinoma of the Stomach (Seventh Edition, 2010) [17]. All the patients belonged to T4a gastric cancer according to the AJCC/TNM Staging System. Gastrectomy was performed in accordance with the Japanese Rabbit Polyclonal to Doublecortin (phospho-Ser376) Classification of Gastric Carcinoma [18]. D2 gastrectomy, complete dissection of the first-tier and second-tier lymph nodes, was performed in all 273 patients. In each case, 15 or more lymph nodes were dissected according to the AJCC/TNM classification. A follow-up of all patients was carried out according to our standard protocol (every 3?months for at least 2?years, every 6?months for the next 3?years, and after 5?years every 12?months for life). The check-up items included physical examination, tumor-marker examination, ultrasound, chest radiography, computed tomographic scan, and endoscopic examination. The median follow-up time was 61.2?months for patients still alive at the time S3QEL 2 of analysis. Serum assays for AFP, CEA, CA19-9, and CA50 Blood samples were obtained from all patients in the morning during the week before surgery. The blood sample was centrifuged at 1000?g for 10?min to separate the plasma from the blood cells. AFP, CEA, CA19-9, and CA50 were assayed with magnetic particle enzyme immunoassay in UniCelTM DxI 800 Access immunoassay S3QEL 2 system (Beckman Coulter Inc. Miami of U.S.A). The cutoff value for serum AFP, CEA, CA19-9, and CA50 were 10?g/L, 10?g/L, 37 U/mL, and 20 U/mL, respectively, according to the manufacturers instructions. Adjuvant chemotherapy A total of 223 patients received adjuvant chemotherapy within 4?weeks after surgery. There were four kinds of chemotherapy regimens in our study: (1) oral administration of tegafur 600?mg per day for at least 1?year (value was? ?0.05. Statistical analysis and graphics were performed with the SPSS 16.0 statistical package. Results Patients characteristics Of the 273 reviewed patients, 90 patients had tumors located in the upper third of the stomach, 52 patients had tumors in the middle third, 124 patients had tumors in the lower third, and seven patients had tumors occupying two-thirds of the stomach or more. The distribution of postoperatively pathological stages of the patients was as follows: 49 patients belonged to IIB stage, 49 patients to IIIA stage, 52 patients to IIIB stage, and 123 patients to IIIC stage. Partial gastrectomy was performed in 193 patients, and total.