A Clinicopathological Analysis of Gastric Cancer in Young Patients.
- Author:
Kyong Hwa JUN
1
;
Myoung Goo IM
;
Yong Sung WON
;
Hyun Min CHO
;
Youn Jung HEO
;
Hyung Min CHIN
;
Jun Gi KIM
;
Woo Bae PARK
;
Chung Soo CHUN
Author Information
1. Department of Surgery, St. Vincent's Hospital, The Catholic University of Korea, Suwon, Korea. hchin@catholic.ac.kr
- Publication Type:Original Article
- Keywords:
Gastric cancer;
Young patients
- MeSH:
Adenocarcinoma;
Aged;
Chemotherapy, Adjuvant;
Follow-Up Studies;
Gyeonggi-do;
Humans;
Lymph Nodes;
Lymphatic Metastasis;
Multivariate Analysis;
Neoplasm Metastasis;
Outcome Assessment (Health Care);
Secondary Care Centers;
Stomach Neoplasms*;
Survival Rate
- From:Journal of the Korean Surgical Society
2005;69(3):217-223
- CountryRepublic of Korea
- Language:Korean
-
Abstract:
PURPOSE: Gastric cancer is believed to be a disease of the elderly, and rarely occurs in young patients. The aim of this study was to analyze the clinicopathological and prognostic factors related to young gastric cancer patients. METHODS: A total of 877 patients with gastric cancer from 1995 to 2004 in a secondary referral center in Suwon City were enrolled in this study. The clinicopathological features of the young (aged<40 years) gastric cancer patients were compared with those of the older (aged > or =40 years) patients. The overall survival was the main outcome measure. The survival curves were constructed using the Kaplan-Meier method, Univariate analysis was performed using the log-rank test, and multivariate analysis was performed using with Cox regression. A P value<0.05 was considered significant. RESULTS: Of the 877 patients, 65(7.4%) were in the young age group. The mean age of this group was 34.9 years (range, 19~39 years). The male-to-female ratio of the patients younger than 40 was 1.24/1; whereas the ratio was 2.07/1 in those older than 40. 7.7 percent of the patients had a family history of gastric cancer. A significantly higher percentage of young patients had a poorly differentiated histology than the older patients (P=0.0001). Twenty-three patients (38.9%) were stage III or IV disease, whereas 36 patients (61.0%) presented with stage I or II disease. A resection with a curative intent was undertaken in 53 patients (81.5%), and a resection with a palliative intent was performed in 12 patients (18.4%). With a mean follow-up of 39 months, the disease-specific 5-year survival rates were similar to those observed in the older group of patients. The variables with a significant impact on survival were a curative resection, a lymph node metastasis, lymphatic invasion, peritoneal metastasis, and adjuvant chemotherapy. CONCLUSION: There were no significant differences in the clinicopathological characteristics and clinical outcome of a gastric adenocarcinoma between the younger and older patients. The important prognostic factors were curability, lymph node metastasis, lymphatic invasion, peritoneal metastasis, and adjuvant chemotherapy.
