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Early gastric cancer in young adults
K Kitamura1, H Taniguchi, T Yamaguchi
1First Department of Surgery, Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine, Japan.
Insights
Early gastric cancer in patients under 40 shows aggressive histological features but similar survival rates compared to older patients. This study analyzed clinicopathological characteristics of young gastric cancer patients.
Area of Science:
- Gastroenterology
- Oncology
- Pathology
Background:
- Early gastric cancer (EGC) incidence in young patients (<40 years) is a growing concern.
- Understanding the unique clinicopathological features of EGC in young individuals is crucial for diagnosis and treatment.
Purpose of the Study:
- To retrospectively review and compare the clinicopathological features of EGC in young patients versus older patients.
- To evaluate the survival outcomes for young patients diagnosed with EGC.
Main Methods:
- Retrospective analysis of hospital records for 31 patients under 40 with EGC (1969-1993).
- Comparison with 549 patients aged 40 and older diagnosed with EGC.
- Analysis of macroscopic and histologic features, gender ratio, and lymph node dissection extent.
Main Results:
- EGC prevalence was similar in both age groups (36.0% vs 36.3%).
- Younger patients presented with superficial depressed lesions, larger tumor size, diffuse type histology, and infiltrative growth.
- Despite histological aggressiveness, younger patients had a similar prognosis to older patients.
Conclusions:
- Early gastric cancer in young patients exhibits distinct, more aggressive histological characteristics.
- Young patients with EGC demonstrate comparable survival rates to older patients, suggesting effective management strategies.
Abstract:
The clinicopathological features of 31 young patients with early gastric cancer, defined as under 40 years of age, were reviewed retrospectively from hospital records between 1969 and 1993. The results were compared with those for 549 patients 40 years of age or older. Early gastric cancer was found in 36.0% of the younger patients with gastric cancers and in 36.3% of the older patients with those. The gender ratio of m/f was 1.21 for the younger patients and 2.37 for the older patients. The macroscopic characteristics of early gastric cancer for the younger patients were superficial depressed lesions and a larger tumor size. The distinguished histologic features of early gastric cancer for the younger patients were a diffuse type of cancer and infiltrative tumor growth with a scirrhous stroma. More extensive lymph node dissection was performed on the younger patients than on the older patients. The younger patients had a prognosis similar to that of the older patients. We conclude that early gastric cancer in young patients possesses histological aggressiveness, but those patients rather show a similar survival to older patients.