Purpose
It is well known that big differences in clinicopathologic characteristics and prognosis exist between oriental and western gastric cancer patients. Howevers, few direct comparisons of the two groups have ever been made or reported. Thus, we
directly
investigated the difference of clinicopathologic characteristics between Korean and Germany gastric cancer patients.
Methods
All resected gastric cancer patients at Korea University Guro Hospital and Technische Universitat Munchen from 1983 to 1990 were enrolled in this study. Their clinicopathologic characteristics were compared retrospectively on the basis of medical
records.
Results
The mean age of Koreans was 53.3±11.6 years, and that of Germans was 62.6±11.5 years (P＜0.001). The proportion of early gastric cancer patient was not significant (19% vs 16.2%). The tumor was located at the lower 1/3 in 51.4% of Koreans, but
in
the
upper 1/3 in 40.6% of Germans (P＜0.001). Larger tumor size, extended lymph node and distant metastasis, and eventual advanced stages were prominant findings among the Germans (P＜0.001), and signet ring cell carcinoma was the predominant
histologic
subtype (46.6%). A distal subtotal gastrectomy was the commonly employed operative procedure in Korea (76.8%), but a total gastrectomy was more favored in Germany (72.9%) (P＜0.001).
Conclusion
Korean gastric cancer patients were younger, and their tumors were more distally located and less advanced in stage. In addition, they had fewer signet ring cell carcinomas. Howevers, prospective studies comparing the prognoses are warranted to
explore
the differences between oriental and western gastric cancer patients.
|