Early-Onset Gastric Cancer from a Geographic Area of High Gastric Cancer Incidence in North-East India: a Retrospective Study

We aim to report about the clinico-pathological characteristics of early-age gastric cancer in North-East India. It is a retrospective and observational study conducted in a tertiary care cancer centre in North-East India. We reviewed physical case records and the hospital electronic medical record system. The study population included all patients of age 40 years or less, with a confirmed diagnosis of gastric adenocarcinoma, who received treatment in the institute. The duration of the study was from 2016 to 2020. Data was collected using a pre-designed proforma, and the results were presented as percentages, ratios, median values and range. A total of 79 patients with early-age gastric cancer were found during the study period. There was female preponderance (45:34). Out of the total, 43% presented in stage IV. Most of them had good performance status (87.3% had ECOG 0–2), and none of them had documented co-morbid illness. Poorly differentiated adenocarcinoma and signet ring cell carcinoma were seen in 36.7% and 25.3% patients, respectively. Only 25 patients (31.6%) underwent definitive surgery, and they had a high nodal burden with a median metastatic lymph nodal ratio of 0.35 (range 0 to 0.91). Out of them, 40% developed systemic recurrence within a short span of time (median time to recurrence being 9.5 months). Peritoneal recurrence was the most common site of failure (80%). Early-age gastric cancer has been associated with aggressive pathological features and poor clinical outcomes in North-East India.