A clinicopathologic study of gastric carcinoma with reference to age of patients

We carried out a clinicopathologic study on gastric carcinomas excised from 36 young (< 40 years), 34 elderly (61 or 62 years), and 34 aged (> or = 80 years) patients. The young group was characterized by long duration (6.9 months) of epigastric pain (64%), tumor location rarely along the lesser curvature (31%), grossly depressed type in early stage (100%), and histologically undifferentiated type (92%). The aged group was characterized by preexisting disorders (85%), limited lymph node dissection (74%), short operative time (136 min), blood transfusion (74%), tumor location in the lower stomach (59%), and noncurative operation (47%), mainly because of locally advanced disease (59%). The 5-year survival rate in the aged (40%) was much lower than that in the young (72%) and elderly (67%). However, the 5-year survival rate for curatively treated patients did not differ among the young (85%), elderly (81%), and the aged (74%). Thus, gastric carcinomas in the young were mostly of the undifferentiated type resembling peptic ulcers, and resection led to a good prognosis. Aged patients with gastric carcinoma often had preexisting clinical disorders and locally advanced diseases; the limited feasibility of surgical excision sometimes led to a less satisfactory outcome.