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Sandra Sankar Poukkula was diagnosed with gastric cancer in 2011. She became proactive about stomach-cancer awareness and research as her family sought answers about a pattern of young gastric-cancer deaths.
Sandra underwent total gastrectomy in an effort to stop the cancer from spreading. By Christmas 2011, however, the disease had spread to other parts of her body. She died a few weeks later, on January 13, 2012, at age 39.
Her work encouraged other relatives to learn more about hereditary diffuse gastric cancer. The family later reported that a CDH1 mutation was present, but Sandra’s individual genetic-test result was not specified.
This is a lay summary of an account first published by No Stomach For Cancer. Read the original in full
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These are lay summaries of published cancer stories, for information only. No two cancers behave the same way, and nothing here predicts your own diagnosis or replaces advice from your oncology team. Read the full disclaimer