Profiling the prognosis of gastric cancer patients: is it worth correlating the survival with the clinical/pathological and molecular features of gastric cancers?

Background: The prognosis of gastric cancer patients still remains poor. The aim of this study was investigating the prognostic value of several clinical/pathological/molecular features in a consecutive series of gastric cancers.
Methods: 150 R0 gastrectomies plus 77 gastric cancer patients evaluated for the HER2 overexpression were selected. Survival was calculated and patients stratified according to the stage, the T-stage, the LNRs, the LNH, and the HER2 scoring system. ROC curves were calculated in order to compare the performance of the LRN and LNH systems.
Results: Prognosis correlated with the stage and with the T-stage. We documented a statistical correlation between the LNRs and the survival. Conversely, a LNH > 15 did not correlate with the outcomes. The ROC curves documented a significant performance of the LRN system, whereas a statistical correlation was documented for the LNH exclusively with the endpoint of disease-free survival. We documented a trend of worse prognosis for patients with an HER2 overexpression, even though it was not of statistical value.
Conclusion: The LNR and the evaluation of the HER2 overexpression might be useful since they correlate with survival, might identify patients with a higher risk of recurrence, and might select patients for a tailored medical treatment.