Lymphovascular Invasion Evaluation by the CD31 Expression in Gastric Adenocarcinoma

Lymphovascular tumoral invasion is a typical histopathological feature of gastric carcinomas and supports the recognition of high-risk patients for the recurrence. We aimed to study the CD31 expression in diverse subtypes of gastric carcinomas and to show its association with the histopathologic findings of the carcinoma to assess the prognosis.

This cross-sectional study was conducted on 40 established patients of gastric adenocarcinoma from radical gastrectomy. The patients were classified according to the pathology assessments. Tumoral tissues were assessed by immunohistochemical staining for the CD31 expression. Malignant behavior was estimated by the histopathological evaluations.

CD31 positivity was described in 23 (57.5%) of all evaluated patients. The assessment of CD31 expression and tumor features presented no significant association between the CD31 expression and patients’ age, sex, tumor site,  size, grade and stage, subtypes of carcinoma, perineural invasion, and also lymphovascular invasion (P>0.05).

Lymphovascular invasion makes valuable additional evidence that might be useful to detect gastric carcinoma patients at high risk for the recurrence, who could be candidates for more supplementary therapies. However, in our society, the CD31 expression did not show any association with the aggressive histopathologic features of this tumor.