Gastric Cancer Patients’ Pathology and Diagnostic Laparoscopy Evaluation

Abstract

Background: Gastric cancer is the fourth leading cause of cancer-related mortality worldwide. Objectives: This study describes the epidemiologic, pathologic, imaging, and surgical findings of patients with gastric cancer referred to a tertiary hospital in Tehran, Iran. Methods: This was a single-center cross-sectional study. All the patients referred for a staging laparoscopy of gastric cancer in a tertiary hospital in Tehran, Iran, were included. Results: A total of 30 patients participated in the study. The mean age of the patients was 62 ± 12.6 years, of whom 76.7% were male. None of the patients had a family history of gastric cancer. Four patients were active smokers, 1 had opium addiction, and 1 had a history of chronic alcohol use. Most patients (n = 29) had at least 1 symptom or were symptomatic for 2.8 months (2.8 ± 2.3 months). The most common clinical complaints were abdominal pain, weight loss, and nausea. Within the follow-up period, 43.3% (n = 13) of the patients expired. The Kaplan-Meier diagram of the study revealed a mean survival time of 8.4 ± 2.1 months within the 2-year follow-up, with a median of 6.0 ± 2.3 months. Conclusions: Our results confirmed the previous findings of the clinicopathologic characteristics of gastric cancer patients. Our primary findings were a younger mean age at the diagnosis, advanced stages of cancer at the first visit, low rates of comorbidity and risk factors, an overall survival rate of 43.3%, and a mean survival time of 8.4 ± 2.1 months in 2 years of follow-up.