Gastric cancer in young people under 30 years of age: worse prognosis, or delay in diagnosis?

Horacio Noé López-Basave,¹ Flavia Morales-Vásquez,² Juan Manuel Ruiz-Molina,¹ Silvio A Ñamendys-Silva,² Itzel Vela-Sarmiento,¹ Javier Melchor Ruan,¹ Alejandro E Padilla Rosciano,¹ German Calderillo-Ruiz,² Consuelo Díaz-Romero,² Angel Herrera-Gómez,¹ Abelardo A Meneses-García<sup>3

1</sup>Departamento de Cirugía Oncológica, ²Departamento de Oncología Médica, ³Departamento de Terapia Intensiva, Instituto Nacional de Cancerología (INCan), Mexico City, Mexico

Background: Gastric cancer is an aggressive disease with nonspecific early symptoms. Its incidence and prognosis in young patients has shown considerable variability.
Purpose of the study: Our objective was to retrospectively study patients from our institution aged <30 years with gastric carcinoma. The study was undertaken to describe the experience of gastric cancer in this population, and to demonstrate its specific clinical and pathological characteristics.
Materials and methods: We reviewed the cases of histologically confirmed gastric cancer between 1985 and 2006 at the Instituto Nacional de Cancerología of Mexico (INCan); emphasis in our review was placed on clinical presentation, diagnostic and therapeutic intervention, pathology, and the results.
Results: Thirty cases of gastric carcinoma were reviewed. The patients’ median age was 27 years (range, 18–30 years) and the male:female ratio was 1:1.
Conclusion: Gastric cancer exhibits different behavior in patients aged <30 years, but delay in diagnosis and the tumor’s behavior appear to be the most important factors in prognosis of the disease.

Keywords: gastric carcinoma, young people, delay in diagnosis