Liver metastasis is the only independent prognostic factor in AFP-producing gastric cancer

AIM: To investigate differences between common gastric cancer and α-fetoprotein (AFP)-producing gastric cancer according to the presence or absence of liver metastasis.METHODS: Between 1997 and 2011, 1299 patients underwent gastrectomy for gastric cancer (GC) at our institute and their hospital records were reviewed retrospectively. Patients were immunohistochemically divided into two groups: 23 patients (1.8%) with AFP-producing GC and 1276 patients (98.2%) without it.RESULTS: AFP-producing GC patients had a significantly higher incidence of deeper tumors, venous invasion, lymphatic invasion, lymph node metastasis, and liver metastasis and a poorer prognosis (P < 0.005) than those without AFP-producing GC. However, multivariate analysis revealed that AFP-positivity was not an independent prognostic factor. The prognosis of AFP-producing GC was similar to that of AFP-non producing GC according to the presence or absence of liver metastasis. Concerning recurrence, 47.8% of patients (11/23) with AFP-producing GC and 20.0% of patients (256/1276) without AFP-producing GC exhibited recurrence. Liver metastasis [90.9% (10/11)] was the most prevalent in AFP-producing GC patients. Multivariate analysis revealed that liver metastasis was the only independent prognostic factor in AFP-producing GC (HR = 17.6, 95%CI: 2.1-147.1; P = 0.0081).CONCLUSION: AFP-producing GC is similar to common GC without liver metastasis, which should be specifically targeted in an effort to improve the prognosis of AFP-producing GC patients.