Characteristics of Gastric Cancer Patients with Family History

Park, Seong Hoon; Yu, Wansik; Chung, Ho Young

Abstract

PURPOSE: A family history of gastric cancer is considered to be a possible etiologic factor. This study was designed to analyze the clinicopathological characteristics of gastric cancer patients with a family history of gastric cancer and to aid in planning diagnostic and therapeutic approaches in such patients. METHODS: Consecutive 859 gastric cancer patients who underwent surgery at Kyungpook National University Hospital were reviewed. RESULTS: Fifty one patients (5.9%) had a family history of gastric cancer. There were 56 family members with gastric cancer in 51 families. Based on the current Euro-American kinship classification, 50 (89.3%) family members were first-degree in distance and 6 (10.3%) were second-degree. There were no statistically significant differences in sex ratio and age distribution between the groups with and without a family history of gastric cancer. Among the 754 patients who underwent a gastric resection, there was a statistically significant difference in the depth of tumor invasion (p= 0.041). There were no statistically significant differences in lymph node metastasis, tumor stage, tumor location, macroscopic and microscopic types, or curability of the surgery between the groups. The overall 5-year survival rate was 59.1% in patients with a family history of gastric cancer, and 51.9% in patients without a family history, but this difference was not statistically significant. Also, there was no statistically significant difference in survival rate after a curative resection. CONCLUSION: Patients with a family history of gastric cancer tended to be diagnosed earlier than patients without a family history. The majority of affected family members were 1stdegree in distance, so genetic approaches and intensive screening examinations are recommended to those relatives for earlier detection of gastric cancer.