"Men Aged 65 and Over Should Be Cautious of 'Multiple Gastric Cancer' When Diagnosed with Cancer"

Professor Kim Nayoung's Team at Bundang Seoul National University Hospital

The research team led by Professor Kim Na-young from the Department of Gastroenterology at Bundang Seoul National University Hospital announced on the 19th that the risk of multiple gastric cancers is higher in men aged 65 and older, and that histological classification has a greater impact on the survival rate of multiple cancers than the number of tumors.

Professor Kim Nayoung, Department of Gastroenterology, Bundang Seoul National University Hospital.

The 5-year relative survival rate for gastric cancer has recently increased to 78%. However, "multiple gastric cancers," where several tumors occur simultaneously in two or more locations in the stomach or within a year apart, remain a challenge to overcome.

Accordingly, Professor Kim's team conducted a large-scale analysis of 14,603 patients diagnosed with cancer, including advanced gastric cancer (stages 3 to 4), at Bundang Seoul National University Hospital from 2003 to 2020, to analyze factors influencing multiple gastric cancers and their clinical characteristics.

As a result, multiple gastric cancers occurred in 4.04% of cases (early gastric cancer 5.43%, advanced gastric cancer 3.11%). Compared to typical single gastric cancer, the risk increased in males (1.7 times), elderly patients aged 65 or older (1.5 times), and early gastric cancer cases (1.9 times). The number of tumors itself was found not to affect survival rates.

Additionally, similar to typical gastric cancer, the prognosis of intestinal-type (mass-forming cancer) was better than that of diffuse-type (small and widely spread cancer) in terms of histology for multiple gastric cancers. It was also confirmed that even if diffuse-type gastric cancer is present, the survival rate significantly improves if there is at least one intestinal-type gastric cancer.

This study is meaningful in revealing that when early gastric cancer findings are observed in men aged 65 and older, careful examination should be conducted with multiple gastric cancers in mind to check for additional lesions. Furthermore, when diagnosed with multiple gastric cancers, the risk can be assessed based on the presence or absence of intestinal-type gastric cancer in terms of histological distribution.

Professor Kim stated, "In elderly men, it is necessary to carefully examine whether there are multiple tumors at the time of initial cancer detection, and also during follow-up after removal surgery, to check if gastric cancer has developed in other areas, considering the possibility of multiple gastric cancers. Additionally, even if multiple tumors are found in multiple gastric cancers, there is no significant difference in survival rates, so patients should not give up and are encouraged to receive active treatment."

The results of this study were published in the SCI(E)-level international journal Gut and Liver.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.