Upper Gastrointestinal Cancer: Delays in Diagnosis and Treatment Caused by Barriers to Healthcare in the Latino Community

Abstract

We report a case of an 81-year-old male immigrant from a Latin American developing country with a high burden of upper gastrointestinal neoplasms, who presented with a small bowel gastrointestinal stromal tumor (GIST) after 2 years of delay in the diagnosis due to multiple barriers to healthcare. The patient presented with a partial intestinal obstruction in an abdominal computed tomography (CT) scan suggestive of a GIST. Surgical resection was performed, and adjuvant therapy was initiated with imatinib (a tyrosine kinase inhibitor) after the diagnosis was confirmed. The patient had a successful outcome. Due to his migratory status, the patient planned to follow up with different health providers in two different countries, which constitutes a common challenge in the immigrant population.