Gastric Cancer in Nepal A Locally Advanced Disease

Abstract

The goal of this study is to describe the distribution of gastric cancer by age, gender, duration of symptoms, nutritional status and staging of the disease based on operative findings and correlation between the data. This was an observational study. The study was conducted at Department of Surgery, Nepal Medical College Teaching Hospital from December 2012 to December 2017. All patients who were admitted to the department with a diagnosis of stomach cancer and underwent palliative or curative intent procedure were reviewed and analyzed. Out of the 80 patients, 51(63.7%) were male and 29 (36.3%) patients were female. The disease was commonest in the 6th and 7th decades of life. Majority of the patients were of Tibetoburmese (Mongolian) origin with 44 (55%). Majority of patients, 60 (75%) patients had long duration of illness of more than 6 months. Most of the patients had albumin level less than 3gm/dl. Gastric carcinoma is a male predominant malignancy usually of old age and commonly observed in the Tibeto-Burman group of people. Overwhelming majority diagnosed at an advanced stage and had poor prognosis.