A public hospital experience with young gastric cancer patients.

30 Background: Recent literature has reported an increased incidence in the United States of node positive and metastatic disease in young patients with gastric adenocarcinoma. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of age (≤40 years) on patients with gastric adenocarcinoma at a large urban public institution. Methods: A total of 520 cases of gastric adenocarcinoma treated between 1995 and 2012 were identified. Information was gathered from the medical record including age at presentation, stage at presentation, pathological type of GC, treatment received, and mortality data. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze the data. Survival was analyzed using the Kaplan-Meier method. Comparisons were made using the log-rank test. Results: The mean age at diagnosis was 56 years. 64 patients (12%) were identified as ≤40 years old. 57 of 64 (89%) of the young age group presented with stage III or IV disease, compared with 75% of patients >40 years of age (p=0.014). For patients ≤40 years old, 3...