Differentiation of early gastric cancer vs linitis plastica: do symptoms make a difference?

Abstract

Gastric cancer has a pattern of presentation ranging from early stage to linitis plastica, with radically different prognosis; early cancer with 5-year survival exceeding 90%, and linitis plastica with survival of less than 5%. Objective: identify if the clinical features differentiate an early stage cancer from plastic linitis. Methodology: we reviewed the databases of the unit of gastroenterology and endoscopy of a tertiary hospital between July 2005 to July 2010, selecting those cases where we found plastic linitis and early gastric cancer, all confirmed by pathology. Results: we included 56 patients, 15 with linitis, and 41 with early cancer. Mean age was 61.3 years (95% CI 54.5-68.2) for linitis and 63 years for early cancer (39-85). With plastic linitis, 66.6% were female and 33.4% men, and with early cancer, 51.2% were women and 48.8% were men. Stomach body involvement in linitis was 76.9%; in early cancer, body involvement was 29.3%; antrum involvement was 43.9%. 73.3% of patients with linitis had weight loss and 26.8% had it with early cancer. There were no significant differences in symptoms such as vomiting, hematemesis, melena or epigastralgia. 26.8% of patients had a history of gastric cancer. Conclusion: the symptoms are not useful as a tool to differentiate early gastric cancer from linitis plastica, so other strategies are required for detection of early stage cancer, such as the performance of endoscopy in patients with a family history of this tumor