Two Cases of Teenage Gastric Cancer Patients

17세 이하에 발견된 위암 2예

Recently, we experienced two advanced gastric cancer (AGC) patients younger than 17 years of age. The first case was a 15-year, 2-month-old male who had suffered from epigastric soreness for 5 weeks. His grandfather died of gastric cancer at 39 years of age. Under the diagnosis of AGC, he underwent a total gastrectomy with D2 lymph node dissection. There was no evidence of distant metastasis. Pathologic examination revealed a 4.5$\times$4 cm, signet ring cell adenocarcinoma with subserosal invasion and with metastasis in 9 of 42 regional lymph nodes (T2bN2M0). The second case was a 17-year, 11-month-old male who had suffered from epigastric pain for 2 years without familial clustering. Under the diagnosis of AGC, he underwent a distal subtotal gastrectomy with D2 lymph node dissection. There was no evidence of distant metastasis. Pathologic examination revealed a 3$\times$2 cm, signet ring cell adenocarcinoma with subserosal invasion and with metastasis in 9 of 45 regional lymph nodes (T2bN2M0). The two patients have been alive without recurrence for 27 months and 4 months, respectively. Even among teenagers, patients with abdominal complaints should be subjected to a thorough examination of the gastrointestinal tract.