Early-onset gastric cancer: Learning lessons from the young

doi:10.4251/wjgo.v2.i2.59

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Feb 15, 2010 (publication date) through Apr 23, 2024

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World Journal of Gastrointestinal Oncology

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1948-5204

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Baishideng Publishing Group Inc, 7041 Koll Center Parkway, Suite 160, Pleasanton, CA 94566, USA

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World J Gastrointest Oncol. Feb 15, 2010; 2(2): 59-64
Published online Feb 15, 2010. doi: 10.4251/wjgo.v2.i2.59

Early-onset gastric cancer: Learning lessons from the young

Anya N Milne, G Johan A Offerhaus

Anya N Milne, Department of Pathology, University Medical Centre Utrecht, Postbus 85500, 3508 GA, Utrecht, The Netherlands

G Johan A Offerhaus, Department of Pathology, Academic Medical Centre, University of Amsterdam, Meibergdreef 9, 1105 AZ, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Author contributions: Milne AN designed the study and wrote the paper; Offerhaus GJA provided significant intellectual content and critically revised the manuscript.

Correspondence to: Anya N Milne, PhD, Department of Pathology, University Medical Centre Utrecht, Postbus 85500, 3508GA, Utrecht, The Netherlands. a.n.a.milne@umcutrecht.nl

Telephone: +31-30-2507663 Fax: +31-30-2544990

Received: June 10, 2009
Revised: July 27, 2009
Accepted: August 3, 2009
Published online: February 15, 2010

Abstract

There is by no means a clear-cut pattern of mutations contributing to gastric cancers, and gastric cancer research can be hampered by the diversity of factors that can induce gastric cancer, such as Helicobacter pylori infection, diet, ageing and other environmental factors. Tumours are unquestionably riddled with genetic changes yet we are faced with an unsolvable puzzle with respect to a temporal relationship. It is postulated that inherited genetic factors may be more important in early-onset gastric cancer (EOGC) than in gastric cancers found in older patients as they have less exposure to environmental carcinogens. EOGC, therefore, could provide a key to unravelling the genetic changes in gastric carcinogenesis. Gastric cancers occurring in young patients provide an ideal background on which to try and uncover the initiating stages of gastric carcinogenesis. This review summarizes the literature regarding EOGC and also presents evidence that these cancers have a unique molecular-genetic phenotype, distinct from conventional gastric cancer.

Keywords: Gastric cancer, Early-onset gastric cancer, Helicobacter pylori