Clinicopathological study of gastric malignancies in Jos University Teaching Hospital (JUTH), Jos, Nigeria

Abstract

Background: Gastric cancer is the 4th most common cancer and the second most common cause of cancer death worldwide. Even though notable success in the  prevention and management of gastric cancer have been achieved in some regions of the world, the morbidity and mortality associated with it, still remains high throughout the world. One of the major problems associated with Gastric cancer in Africa is late presentation, which is known to be associated with severe morbidity and poor patient outcome.
Method: This study is an eight years hospital based retrospective analysis of tissue blocks and slides ofGastric malignancies seen at the histopathology department of the Jos University Teaching hospital (JUTH),  between January 2005 and December 2012.
Result: Seventy nine (79) cases of malignant gastric tumours were seen within the  study period. This represents 4.19% of the 1883 malignant tumours recorded within that same period. Seventy-seven cases satisfied the inclusion criteria and were included in this study. Out of the 77 cases, 67 (87%) were Adenocarcinoma, 6 (7.8%) gastrointestinal stromal tumours and one case each of carcinoid (1.3%), Leiomyosarcoma (1.3%) lymphoma (1.3%) and Hepatocellular carcinoma (a  secondary). The youngest case was a 30 year old, while the oldest was 78 year old. The mean age was 54.6 years. The commonest presenting symptom was epigastric pain which occurred in 45 (58.4%) cases.
Conclusions: This study has shown that gastric malignancies are not uncommon in Jos (J.U.T.H.) and that most cases present with a late stage disease. It has also highlighted the need for endoscopic gastric cancer screening for patients around the age of 40 years or more, most especially those that presented with two or more symptoms associated with Gastric cancer.

Key words: Gastric, Cancer, Clinicopathological, Symptoms.