An epidemiological study of 50 consecutive cases of gastric cancer from a tertiary care hospital in West Bengal

Abstract

Background: Gastric cancer in India shows marked regional variation both in incidence and presentation. Highest incidence is seen in the north eastern states of India. Its also common in West Bengal. However data on various clinicopathological characteristics of our gastric cancer patients is limited. The aim of this study was to find out the epidemiological profile of gastric cancer patients attending a tertiary care government hospital in West Bengal. Methods: 50 cases of gastric cancer patients were included in the study. They were admitted from surgical OPD. Patient characteristics were obtained using pretested questionnaire. All relevant investigations like endoscopy, biopsy reports, HPE and operative notes were recorded. Results: Average age of the patients was 51.76 years. There were 41 males and 9 females (4.56:1). There were 35 Hindus and 15 Muslims (2.33:1). 56% of the patients came from rural areas while the rest (44%) resided in urban areas. Weight loss was the commonest symptom followed by dyspepsia and abdominal pain. Majority of them were smokers (76%). Antrum was the commonest site of involvement and most common type of lesion was ulceroproliferative type (50%). Most of the gastric cancers were poorly differentiated adenocarcinomas. Indeterminate type was the commonest histological subtype. 16% of patients deemed operable on preoperative workup had advanced unresectable cancers. Conclusions: Majority of the gastric cancer patients appear to be male and Hindu by religion, mostly with a rural background. The average age at diagnosis was 51 years. Commonest symptoms were weight loss and dyspepsia. A high percentage of the patients were smokers with a long duration of smoking. About half of the patients had poorly differentiated cancers and indeterminate histology. A significant number of cases presented late with advanced disease. There is a need for urgent screening protocol to identify patients at earlier stages of the disease.