Signet ring cell carcinoma (SRC) is a distinct histological subtype of gastric carcinoma. Our aim is to investigate differential characteristics between gastric SRC and other non SRC carcinomas (nSRC). It was a retrospective study including 183 patients diagnosed with gastric carcinoma over a period of 5 years at our pathology department. We performed statistical comparison of clinicopathological features between patients with SRC and those with nSRC. 127 patients (69.4%) had nSRC, 56 had SRC (30.6%), the mean age was 56.67 ± 14.03 years. Patients with SRC were younger than those with nSRC (mean age of 49.66 versus 59.76, P = 0.030). Patients with SRC tend to have more diffuse tumors in the stomach ( P = 0.005), with flat macroscopic appearance ( P = 0.001). Patients with SRC present more often with pT3 tumors ( P < 0.001), lymph node metastasis ( P = 0.024) and perineural invasion ( P = 0.003). There were no significant differences between SRC and nSRC in gender, vascular invasion or distant metastasis ( P > 0.05). The median survival time was 42.82 ± 1.70 months. Patients with nSRC live longer than those with SRC, but the difference was not significant ( P = 0.28). SRC is a histological subtype of gastric carcinoma with distinctive clinicopathologic features. The clinical management of patients should take into account these particular features.
The difference of prognosis between signet ring cell gastric carcinoma and non-signet ring cell gastric carcinoma in different clinical stages: a meta-analysis
