Clinicopathological study of gastric cancer in a Malaysian tertiary public health care centre

INTRODUCTION: Gastric cancer (GC) is one of the leading causes of all new cancer cases globally. Although it is no longer reported in the top 10th most common cancer in Malaysia, geographical distribution and ethnic influences still obviously exist.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: This is a retrospective analysis of histopathological records in a public tertiary health care centre in Malaysia. The computerised laboratory information system from the histopathology department of the hospital was retrieved for the period of 2005-2018. Descriptive analysis was done using Microsoft Excel.

RESULTS: There was a total of 233 histologically confirmed GC cases. The burden of GC was observed to be an increasing trend from 2016 onwards. Among them, 64% were male and 36% were female. The youngest age of diagnosis was 19, while the oldest one was 93. Malaysian Chinese were found to have the highest incidences (41.63%), followed by Malays (32.19%) and Malaysian Indians (23.61%). All cases were of adenocarcinoma cell types and were found to have poorly differentiated in majority at the time of diagnosis.

CONCLUSION: Although this report only represents one tertiary health care centre in Malaysia, the Indian Enigma was still observed, as stated in other literatures. Over time, the incidence of GC in Malays has increased. Consideration of lifestyle modifications, health education and Helicobacter pylori eradication in various nations' National Health Insurance plans, are encouraged as prevention is always better than treatment or cure, including the cost load.