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

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.