A Registry Program for Familial Gastric Cancer Patients Referred to Cancer Institute of Iran

Abstract

Background: Gastric cancer is the second most common cause of cancer death. It has a poor prognosis with only 5-10% of hereditary etiology. If it is diagnosed, it could be helpful for screening the other susceptible members of a family for preventive procedures. Usually it is identified by symptoms such as presence of cancer in different members of family, some special type of pathology such as diffused adenocarcinoma, having younger age and multiple cancer syndromes. Hence, designing a registry program can be a more practical way to screen high risk families for a preventive program. Materials and Methods: Based on the inclusion criteria, a questionnaire was prepared. After pilot on a small number of patients, the actual data was collected from 197 patients and processed in SPSS 16.0. Results: Totally, 11.8% of the patients were younger than 45 years old. Blood type 'A' was dominant and males had a higher risk behavior with higher consumption of unhealthy food. Adenocarcinoma was reported in majority of cases. 21.8% of the patients had the including criteria for familial gastric cancer (FGC). Conclusions: The high percentage of FGC population compared to the other studies have revealed a need to design an infrastructural diagnostic protocol and screening program for patients with FGC, plus preventive program for family members at risk which could be done by a precise survey related to frequency and founder mutations of FGC in a national registry program.

<p>Epidemiologic Study of Gastric Cancer in Iran: A Systematic Review</p>

“…41 Disease among young people of Iranian families with gastric cancer emphasize the role of family history in disease. 42 At the same time, family members experience similar environmental and lifestyle conditions. Family history of gastric cancer may not necessarily be related to genetic effects, 43 because environmental factors such as H. pylori infection play a more important role than genetic effects.…”