BACKGROUND: The aim of the present study is to evaluate the behaviour of early gastric cancer at a reference institution, the Instituto Nacional de Câncer. METHODS: This is a retrospective study of 47 patients from 296 treated with gastric resection for gastric cancer between 1995 and 1999. RESULTS: In our hospital the incidence of early gastric cancer is 15.8% of patients submited to gastrectomies for gastric cancer. A female/male rate of 1.1:1, was observed, with morbidity and mortality rates of 19.1% and 4.2%, respectively. The most common macroscopic type was IIc +III and 27.6% of patients were positive for Helicobacter pylori. CONCLUSIONS: Despite the increase in quality of diagnosic methods, the rate of patients with early gastric cancer the best stage to treat these tumors is still low on west countries.
Early gastric cancer; Gastrectomy
