Chronic Schistosomiasis Infection Dose not Affect the Prognosis of Gastric Cancer Patients.

[BACKGROUND] Schistosomiasis is linked to the development of colorectal cancer and is associated with increased colorectal cancer mortality. However, there is limited research on whether schistosomiasis with egg deposition influences the clinicopathologic features and prognosis of patients with gastric cancer (GC).

[OBJECTIVE] To investigate the effects of pathologically confirmed schistosomal egg deposition on the clinicopathologic features and prognosis of GC patients.

[METHODS] 5,001 patients receiving radical GC surgery performed at Yijishan Hospital of Wannan Medical College from January 2012 to January 2023 were retrospectively analyzed. The patients were categorized into two groups: the schistosomiasis combined with gastric cancer (S-GC) group and the conventional gastric cancer (C-GC) group, based on their medical history and postoperative pathology reports. Survival analysis for each group was conducted using the Kaplan-Meier method, while Cox regression modeling was employed for univariate and multifactorial prognostic analysis.

[RESULTS] Of the 5001 GC patients included in the study, 189 cases had S-GC versus 4812 C-GC cases. S-GC group patients were older, predominantly male, and exhibited a greater prevalence of lesions located in the lower third of the stomach compared to those in the C-GC group(all P < 0.05). Multifactorial Cox regression analysis identified N stage and tumor deposits as independent risk factors influencing the prognosis of GC, whereas schistosomiasis with egg deposition did not appear to have a significant impact(HR 0.892, 95% CI 0.637-1.249, P > 0.05).

[CONCLUSION] S-GC patients are more commonly elderly and male. Chronic schistosomiasis infection, as evidenced by pathologically confirmed residual calcified eggs, was not associated with the prognosis of GC patients.