title: Gastric carcinoma in patients younger than age 36 years.
abstract: The clinical and pathologic features of 18 patients with gastric carcinoma younger than age 36 years were studied. Of these patients, 36.8% were Hispanics of Mexican origin. Eighteen percent of the Mexican population with gastric carcinoma were younger than 36 years as compared to 2.8% of the overall population (P less than 0.05). Fifty percent of the gastric ulcers in the Mexican population were malignant as compared to 6% in the non-Mexican population (P less than 0.05). In addition, a subset of aggressive carcinomas were found. Patients presenting with symptoms of less than 6 months' duration had a survival of less than 6 months, compared to the less aggressive subset, in which patients had symptoms for greater than 6 months and survived longer than 6 months. Racial, environmental influences, or selection bias may account for the differences in gastric carcinoma in the Mexican and non-Mexican population. Factors contributing to a more aggressive form of carcinoma are unclear and require further study.
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D002140:California; D005260:Female; D006630:Hispanic or Latino; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008800:Mexico / Q000208:ethnology; D013274:Stomach Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology / Q000628:therapy