Case study of stomach adenocarcinoma conducted at a cancer referral hospital in northern Brazil.

CONTEXT Stomach cancer is the second leading cause of death due to cancer in the world and the incidence of this disease continues to be high in Brazil. In the Northern region, gastric cancer is the second most frequent cancer among men and the third among women. In the State of Pará, stomach adenocarcinoma is a public health problem since mortality rates are above the Brazilian average. OBJECTIVE To analyze the clinical and anatomopathological profile of stomach adenocarcinoma in patients seen at Ofir Loiola Hospital. METHODS In a retrospective study, records from 302 patients with gastric cancer undergoing surgery between 2006 and 2008 were analyzed. Data regarding patient profile, early symptoms, alterations upon physical examination, type of surgery, and macroscopic and histological findings were obtained from the records. RESULTS Most patients (63.9%) were men, 48% were older than 60 years, 50.9% were from the metropolitan region of Belém, 68.2% presented epigastric pain as an early symptom, and abdominal tenderness upon palpation was observed in 63.7%. The antrum was the most affected anatomical site (62.1%), followed by the gastric body (26.9%). Borrmann III (ulcerated-infiltrative) was the predominant endoscopic type. Adenocarcinoma accounted for 95.4% of all cases, including the intestinal type in 56.6% and the diffuse type in 41.3%. Most patients had stage IIIB and IV tumors and total gastrectomy was the most frequent type of surgery (37.4%). CONCLUSION The present study demonstrated that gastric adenocarcinoma mainly affected men over the age of 60 who were from the metropolitan region of Belém. Most adenocarcinomas were in an advanced stage at the time of diagnosis, a fact requiring more aggressive surgical resection in these cases. These data highlight the urgent need for the implementation of preventive measures and early detection programs of gastric cancer.