Clinicopathological profile of gastric cancers in Al-Madinah, Saudi Arabia.

Objective: To characterise the clinicopathological features of gastric cancer.

Methods: This retrospective study was conducted at the histopathology laboratory of King Fahad Hospital, Madinah, Saudi Arabia, and comprised record of gastric cancer patients from January 2006 to September 2015. Data of all patients who had undergone gastrectomy was included. SPSS 19 was used for data analysis.

Results: Of the 63 patients, 42(66.7%) were males while 21(33.3%) were females. The overall mean age was 58.5±14.6years (range: 23-95 years). The mean age of males at diagnosis was greater than the mean ages of females (60.4 ± 15.1vs. 54.5 ± 13.6 years). Adenocarcinoma was the most common histologic type, occurring in 49(77.8%) patients. There were 30(47.6%) cases of intestinal subtype and 19(30.2%) cases of diffuse subtypes of adenocarcinoma. The mean age of patients with intestinal subtype was greater than those with diffuse type (60.2 ± 14.9 vs. 56.8±14.2 years). Younger patients mainly presented with poorly differentiated tumours as compared to elder patients. The most common site of gastric cancer was body 28(44.5%), followed by antrum 12(30.1%). .

Conclusions: Gastric cancer was diagnosed in advanced stages and in young females. Younger patients were more frequently affected by poorly differentiated and diffuse adenocarcinoma.