title: Prognosis of early mucinous gastric carcinoma.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Little is known about the clinicopathological features of early mucinous gastric carcinoma (MGC). The purpose of this study was to compare the clinicopathological features and prognosis between patients with early MGC and those with early nonmucinous gastric carcinoma (NMGC).
  
  
  METHODS
  We reviewed the records of 2,732 patients diagnosed with gastric carcinoma who were treated surgically. There were 14 patients (0.5%) with early MGC and 958 with early NMGC.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Early MGC patients had a higher prevalence of elevated type (71.4%) compared with early NMGC patients (29.5%). More early MGC patients had submucosal carcinoma, compared with early NMGC patients (78.6% vs. 64.1%). The overall 5-year survival of the patients with early MGC was 97.2% as compared with 92.7% for the patients with early NMGC (P < 0.01). The statistically significant prognostic parameters influencing the 5-year survival rate according to Cox's proportional hazard regression model were: age (risk ratio, 2.22; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.62-3.04; P < 0.01); sex (risk ratio, 1.97; 95% CI, 1.42-2.73; P < 0.01); and lymph node metastases (risk ratio, 1.88; 95% CI, 1.28-2.77; P < 0.01).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Patients with early MGC had a better prognosis than those with early NMGC. Mucinous histology itself appears not to be an independent prognostic factor. Therefore, early detection is important for improving the prognosis for patients with gastric carcinoma regardless of tumor histology.
authors.affiliation: Division of Gastroenterologic Surgery, Department of Surgery, Chonnam National University Medical School, Gwangju, Korea.
authors.forename: Seong Yeob
authors.initials: SY
authors.lastname: Ryu
authors.affiliation: Division of Gastroenterologic Surgery, Department of Surgery, Chonnam National University Medical School, Gwangju, Korea.
authors.forename: Ho Gun
authors.initials: HG
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Chonnam National University Medical School, Gwangju, Korea.
authors.forename: Jae Hyuk
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Division of Gastroenterologic Surgery, Department of Surgery, Chonnam National University Medical School, Gwangju, Korea.
authors.forename: Dong Yi
authors.initials: DY
authors.lastname: Kim
keywords: Gastric neoplasm; Mucinous; Prognosis; Tumor histology