FGFR2 overexpression predicts a favorable prognosis in patients with resected poorly cohesive cell gastric cancer

Among gastric cancer, poorly cohesive cell gastric cancer has aggressive and heterogeneous characteristics. This study investigated the clinical significance of fibroblast growth factor receptor 2 expression and genetic variations in patients with PCC-GC.Among 209 patients, 89 were classified as stage 2 and 120as stage 3. FGFR2 overexpression varied by stage, with FGFR2 positivity observed in 61.5 percent of stage 2 cases, while FGFR2-negative cases were predominant in stage 3 patients (P = 0.037). Moreover, lymph node involvement was associated with FGFR2 expression (P = 0.009). FGFR2 positivity significantly correlated with improved disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival and remained an independent favorable prognostic factor for DFS in multivariate analysis (P = 0.022). For five selected cases, for which targeted next-generation sequencing was performed, FGFR2 amplification or pathogenic alteration were not found.This study showed that FGFR2 expression was independently associated with improved DFS in PCC-GC. These findings suggest that FGFR2 may serve as a prognostic biomarker in patients with PCC-GC.