ANALYSIS OF MSI STATUS IN GASTRIC CANCER PATIENTS FROM QINGHAI AREA AND ITS RELATIONSHIP WITH CLINICAL HEALTH INDICATORS: IMPLICATIONS FOR ATHLETE HEALTH MONITORING

Abstract

Objective: To examine the correlation between various clinical indicators and microsatellite instability (MSI) in gastric cancer patients from Qinghai, focusing on athletic health implications. Method: Data from gastric cancer patients treated at our hospital from January 2020 to November 2022 were analyzed. Patients were categorized into three groups based on MSI status: MSI-Low (MSI-L), Microsatellite Stable (MSS), and MSI-High (MSI-H). Detailed analyses were conducted on the expression of mismatch repair proteins such as MLH1 to delineate tumor characteristics and assess the prognosis and treatment outcomes associated with different MSI statuses. Results: Out of 270 patients, 185 exhibited unstable microsatellite status, representing 68.52% of the sample, and 85 patients were MSS, making up 31.48%. Older patients tended to have MSI-L status, showing a statistically significant difference (P<0.05). MSI-H was more frequently associated with cardia cancer (P<0.05) and smaller tumor sizes on medical imaging (P<0.001). In terms of tumor differentiation, MSI-H patients predominantly had non-poorly differentiated cancers, marking a significant difference from the MSS group (P<0.05). No significant differences were noted in gender, tumor invasion depth, vascular invasion, or lymph node metastasis across the groups, with statistical results showing P>0.05. Conclusion: The study underscores distinct characteristics of gastric cancer patients with unstable microsatellite status in Qinghai, including a tendency for occurrence in older patients, at the cardia, and with a higher degree of differentiation compared to the stable group, highlighting critical considerations for health monitoring in athletes with a predisposition or familial history of such conditions.