Gastric cancer: epidemiological, clinical and pathological characteristics of patients treated in the university hospital of Neiva, between january 2007 and december 2012

Abstract

Gastric cancer is the second leading cause o f death in the world from a malignant disease and is most commonly diagnosed at an advanced stage with high incidence and prevalence rates. Method. A descriptive, observational study was carried out with the aim of studying the epidemiological, clinical and pathological variables in patients with gastric cancer in the University Hospital of Neiva between January 2007 and December 2012. The study examined histological type and demographic, clinical, diagnostic and treatment variables. Results. The study found 396 patients with gastric adenocarcinoma, occurring more frequently in men, with a male to female ratio of 2:1 (the average age was 59.7), 85% came from the department of Huila, Neiva being the most common municipality. The main symptom was epigastralgia (59.35%), followed by weight loss (46.38%). The most common histological type in men was intestinal (49.6%) and diffuse in women (36.9%). The gastric adenocarcinoma was more com m only found in the distal third , in 222 patients (56.6%). The most widely used diagnostic method was the gastric biopsy (89.4%). The disease was detected at advanced stage III in 85 patients (21.5%) and at stage IV in 19 (37.6%). 167 patients (42.2%) died, the oncological disease was the cause of death in 97. Conclusions. Gastric cancer is a pathology with high incidence and prevalence rates in the department of  Huila. The University Hospital of Neiva is a point of reference for patients and therefore must continue developing strategies to improve early detection and carry out a prospective study in order to identify and characterise the risk factors of the development of gastric cancer.