Gastric Adenocarcinoma in Young Patients: a Population-Based Appraisal

Although international studies of young gastric cancer patients have mainly reported favorable survival outcomes compared with older patients, US-based experiences have shown a wider spectrum of outcomes. We examined the impact of young age (under 45 years) on the presentation and survival outcomes of gastric adenocarcinoma. A total of 33,236 patients with gastric adenocarcinoma were identified within the 1988–2006 Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) registry. Multivariate regression analysis of relative survival was performed to adjust for covariate effects using generalized linear models. Young patients were more likely than older patients to have advanced nodal and distant metastatic disease at presentation (P