title: Early gastric cancer shows different associations with adipose tissue volume depending on histological type.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Visceral obesity is known to be a risk factor for diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Cancer of the gastric cardia has been shown to have a close association with obesity in Western countries. In order to examine the possible relationship between fat volume and the development of gastric cancer (GC), we quantified visceral and subcutaneous fat areas of computed tomography (CT) images of patients with early GC.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 210 patients who underwent endoscopic resection or surgical gastrectomy and whose disease was pathologically diagnosed as early GC were investigated for total fat area (TFA), visceral fat area (VFA), and subcutaneous fat area (SFA) with Fat Scan software, using a CT slice at the umbilical level, and the relationships of these findings with clinical and pathological data were analyzed. The same analysis was performed in 147 patients with early colorectal cancer (CRC).
  
  
  RESULTS
  TFA, VFA, and SFA values in GC patients were not significantly different from the values in CRC patients. These values did not differ with the location of the GC. However, patients with undifferentiated-type GC had significantly smaller VFAs and SFAs than those with differentiated-type GC. Among the patients with undifferentiated GC, TFA and SFA values in the patients with submucosal cancer were significantly smaller than those in the patients with mucosal cancer.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  GC has different associations with adipose tissue volume according to its histological type. As compared with differentiated GC, lower adipose tissue volume may be a preferential environment for the development and progression of undifferentiated GC.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgical Oncology, The University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, 113-8655, Japan.
authors.forename: Kensuke
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Otani
authors.forename: Joji
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kitayama
authors.forename: Shoichi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kaisaki
authors.forename: Hironori
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ishigami
authors.forename: Akio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hidemura
authors.forename: Mitsuhiro
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Fujishiro
authors.forename: Masao
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Omata
authors.forename: Hirokazu
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Nagawa
mesh_terms: D000273:Adipose Tissue / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000503:physiopathology*; D000368:Aged; D001823:Body Composition / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013274:Stomach Neoplasms / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology*; D013276:Stomach Ulcer; D050151:Subcutaneous Fat / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000503:physiopathology*; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed