Gastric carcinoma in a 13-year-old girl

Abstract

Gastric cancer is uncommon before the fifth decade of life. The appearance of adenocarcinoma in young adults has motivated molecular studies that aimed to identify inherited mutations. Moreover, carcinoma of the stomach in the young adult is sufficiently rare to generate considerable interest in each occurrence of it, especially when it occurs in the gastroesophageal junction. We report a case of gastric carcinoma in a 13-year-old girl, who was referred to our service with weakness, malaise, weight loss, and slight dysphagia. An upper endoscopy with biopsy revealed a gastric Borrmann III tumor, with invasion of the distal esophagus; histopathological analysis revealed a moderately differentiated adenocarcinoma. During staging, she was diagnosed with several metastases, including the lymph nodes, liver, spleen, and ovary. She was referred for radiochemotherapy and died within 4 months. We should consider and investigate the possibility of malignancy even in young patients with persistent symptoms or anemia, in order to diagnose this malignancy at earlier stages.