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Background: Gastric cancer is a common cancer with high burden of disease in many countries including Thailand. Objective of the presented study is to determine current status of gastric cancer in Thai patients in various aspects.
Materials and Methods: The authors retrospectively reviewed the records of 68 patients diagnosed with histologically proven gastric cancer in King Chulalongkorn Memorial Hospital from 2012 to 2016.
Results: There were 36 males and 32 females with the mean age at 63.34±13.11 years. The most common initial symptoms were abdominal pain in females and gastrointestinal bleeding in males. Adenocarcinoma was the most common pathological finding. 16 of 34 patients had positive Helicobacter pylori testing and 3 of 14 patients had HER2-positive cancer. The percentage of patients with advanced-stage cancer was not significantly different between positive and negative groups of Helicobacter pylori, HER2, smoking, alcohol drinking and also between sexes. The majority of adenocarcinoma was stage IV in 51.6% with poorly-differentiated grading in 64.5%. The mean age of patients with metastasis was significantly lower than that of patients who did not. Surgical resection was the primary treatment.
Conclusion: Gastric cancer is still considered to be a health problem in Thailand with delayed diagnosis. Early diagnosis and prompt treatment should be encouraged.